Kenya’s team of 12 boxers – nine men and three women – have landed in Kinshasa for the Africa Elite Men and Women Boxing Championships all set for a bruising battle in this year’s event likely to start on Friday.
The team includes five of the seven bronze medallists who enabled Kenya finish 17th overall in last year’s Africa Championships in Yaounde, Cameroon.
They are bantamweight Martha Amina, featherweight Shaffi Bakari who fought at bantamweight in Yaounde, light-heavyweights Liz Andiego and Robert Okaka, and heavyweight Peter Abuti.
The only newcomer in the team is promising flyweight Faith Nafuna who will be making her international debut.
Kenya is one of the most impressive performers in the history of the Africa Elite Championships with a total of 20 gold medals and placed fourth in the all-time best performers list in this tournament behind Algeria leading on 37 gold, Morocco 23 gold and Egypt 20 gold from available information yet to be verified.
Accompanying the boxers as coaches are David Munuhe, John Waweru and Communication Director Duncan “Sugar Ray” Kuria.
Inspired by two gold medals this year from Edwin Okong’o and Elizabeth Andiego and a bronze by Amina Martha, the Kenyans are among the countries favoured to excell. Some of the African boxing giants, Algeria, Nigeria and Zambia will not be coming to Kinshasa.
The 12 Kenyan boxers in DRC :
Men
1. Silas Onyango – Minimum weight
2. Abednego Kyalo – Flyweight
3. Shaffi Bakari – Featherweight
4. Aloice Vincent – lightwelter
5. Boniface Mogunde – light-middleweight
6. Robert Okaka – Light heavyweight
7. Chrispine Ochanda – Cruiserweight
8. Peter Abuti – Heavyweight
9. Clinton Macharia – Super-heavyweight
Women
[tps_header][/tps_header]10. Faith Nafuna – Flyweight
11. Amina Martha – Bantamweight
12. Elizabeth Andiego – light-heavyweight
Credit: AFBC Communications
