WANDERA, KYALO, HUSSEIN, AND MWANGI SEND DANGER SIGNALS IN DAY ONE
The 2025 Kenya Open Boxing Championships got off to a cracking start on Wednesday, April 16, at Nairobi’s Charter Hall.
There were no major upsets with the favourites cruising comfortably to their next fights.
Africa Championships flyweight bronze medalist Abednego Kyalo outpointed Mombasa’s Abdalla Musa to make no secret of his intention to clinch his fourth Kenya Open title. Last year Kyalo lost to Silas Onyango of Police at minimumweight in the finals of this premier boxing event in Kenya. Onyango, who made his international debut in the Africa Championships in Kinshasa is favoured to retain his Kenya Open title.
For Kyalo, It’s just the beginning of the difficult path to the finals as he has other equally good flyweights to contend with such as his clubmate at KDF Africa Military Games champion Kevin Maina, Nairobi’s smooth operator Emmanuel “Manu” Chondo and Kibra’s Mohammed Hussein who also got off to positive start with a 2-1 points victory over Nairobi’s Lesley Odhiambo.
At bantamweight, KDF’s Dennis Mwendwa hammered Mombasa’s Eliston Shiga 3-0 with Nakuru’s Linus Mwangi seeing off Nairobi’s Stanley Kimani whom he stopped in the first round.
Mwangi seems determined to go all the way, and showed his credentials by outpointing sensational form three student at Mwiki Secondary Chris Juma in the 2024 national league in Mombasa. Juma dropped down to bantamweight in his fight against Mwangi.
Experienced international Shaffi Bakari of Police, a bronze medallist in the u2024 Africa Championships, is also in the mix having decided to return to bantamweight, his previous weight class. He’s one of the favourites for the finals to redeem himself following last year’s Kenya Open shocking points loss to Chris Juma in the featherweight berth.
Nakuru’s big-punching Caleb Wandera fired warning shots at Africa Championships light-welterweight bronze medallist Aloice Ochieng, by knocking out Geoffrey Onyango, also from Nakuru, in the first round.
A final battle between Wandera and Ochieng – that’s if they don’t meet in the quarters or semis – looks likely, and will provide one of the highlights of the four-day Kenya Open Championships which has attracted a total of 126 boxers, 105 men and 21 women.
Meanwhile, African Games middleweight champion Edwin Owuor is not taking part in this year’s Kenya Open Championships owing to pressure of work at the KDF.
“I was really looking forward to the Kenya Open to prove why I’m the best in Africa but for now it’s not possible, work comes first,” Owuor told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview but he said he will be available in the Kenya National Boxing League.
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