Kenya’s latest sensation in the flyweight division, Emmanuel “Manu” Chondo, today celebrates his 21st birthday with his morale sky-high.
As he prepares for a tasty lunch of pilau spiced with kachumbari, chapatis and chicken – prepared by his loving mum – to enjoy his birthday with family members in Nairobi’s Jericho Estate, Chondo has that inner feeling of satisfaction and joy towards his cherished ambition of representing the national team following his impressive performance in this year’s Kenya Open Championships at Charter Hall in Nairobi.
In terms of technical finesse and ringcraftsmanship, Chondo stood head and shoulders above the rest of the flyweights in the Kenya Open tournament.
He made a strong statement on his intentions by punching his way to the finals, dropping a controversial points defeat to Diouff Muimi of Police Boxing Club aka Chafua Chafua.
Commenting on his defeat in the finals to the Police boxer, Chondo said he had done enough spadework to clinch the Kenya Open title.
“I was surprised by the decision because I felt I had won the fight,” Chondo, the last born in a family of three boys and one girl, told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview.
“Okay the first round was balanced but I took charge in the second and third rounds, anyway I’ll live to fight another day but I’m very happy with my performance in the Kenya Open.”
On his way to the finals, Chondo caused an upset, outpointing Africa Championships flyweight bronze medallist Abednego Kyalo of KDF to avenge last year’s defeat to Kyalo in the semi-finals of the minimumweight class in the Kenya Open.
The KDF boxer had previously defeated Chondo twice but this time around, Chondo changed the tide to eliminate Kyalo in the semi-finals.
Soon after he was declared the winner, Chondo went down on both knees as if to thank the Almighty for this sweet victory over Kyalo.
“The game was good I enjoyed it, I took advantage of my right punch because I was hitting Kyalo on target and he couldn’t see the punch coming,” said Chondo after the fight.
For all his technical superiority over his opponents, Chondo knows very well the battle for supremacy has just started in the flyweight division which now has more depth than in the past when Zone 3 champion David Karanja dominated with ease.
Chondo is aiming for nothing else but to assert his supremacy in the flyweight class to show his rivals he’s the new sheriff in town.
In addition to Kyalo and Diouff, there’s another equally strong flyweight in KDF’s Kevin Maina, the reigning African Military Games champion who skipped the Kenya Open as he was busy at work tackling an urgent assignment.
The national team selectors will be spoilt for choice in the flyweight class when naming the team to represent the county in the Africa Championships in August and Men’s World Championships in November this year.
Equally impressed by Chondo’s remarkable showing is the national team head coach Musa Benjamin.
“Chondo is a very good upcoming boxer. He was initially too ‘clean’ and being bullied in the ring which I noticed,” said Musa, and went on: After speaking to him he’s changed. He now needs to work on his range, use his reach effectively and he will be complete.”
From all indications, Chondo is on the threshold of earning his first call up to the national team. It’s likely the selectors will pick on Chondo, Kyalo, Diouf and Kevin Maina – if he’s available – in the provisional team and then gauge who is superior during the sparring sessions.
That’s why Chondo hit the gym soon after the Kenya Open to improve on areas he feels need strengthening to prepare for the battle of supremacy in his weight class. He has moved up to flyweight having previously campaigned in the minimumweight and light-flyweight class.
Generally Chondo is an intelligent artistic boxer, and has strong character, self discipline, focus, confidence and excellent motivation. These are important qualities that will entrench him in the flyweight berth.
While Chondo is a boxer-puncher, he can also fight when the need arises. What he needs now is to punch harder with authority, tigerish in attack, develop incredible speed and better footwork to improve on his movement in the ring.
Chondo’s coaches at Jericho Boxing Club, Elijah Mringie and Nixon Bisto have their work cut out to polish their boxer into a formidable and fearsome opponent for his rivals. They already know that they’ll have to be more smarter to get the better of Chondo who started boxing in 2018 while in class eight at Harambee Primary School under his childhood coach Elijah Mringie.
“I introduced Chondo to boxing to keep him off bad company because most of friends quit school, and were just loitering in the estate,” recalls Mringie.
At Jericho Estate, Chondo was also inspired by former top international boxer George “Kidi” Adipo, a close neighbour.
“Infact when Chondo is in the bathroom he can comfortably chat with Adipo,” quipped Mringie who was assisted by his buddy and fellow coach Nixon Bisto to impart the fundamentals of boxing to Chondo.
“Manu proved his qualities in the Kenya Open, he’s ripe for the national team to gain more experience, he started boxing as a junior and has all the skills we’ve taught him over the years,” said Bisto, adding: “Manu is a disciplined boxer and a team player. His boxing journey started well in the Junior tournament winning up to the national level. In the Novices he lost to teammate Chris Musyoka in the semis. He was unlucky in the Intermediates he was punched when the ref had ordered stop and it was a KO. He didn’t give up, last year in the Nairobi Open he won the flyweight title and then he started boxing in the national league as a minimumweight and light-flyweight. He’s a stylish boxer capable of going places with more exposure.”
Mringie regards Chondo highly especially for his self discipline, confidence and motivation.
“He is serious in training and carefully listens to our instructions in the gym and during his fights, and likes it when Bisto and I are at his corner,” said Mringie.
“I’ve always reminded him to climb the ladder to the top is not an easy job, and once he makes it, he will even be faced with a more difficult task of remaining there.”
On his boxing approach, Mringie said:”Manu is a clever boxer, he likes to play it clean but can be combative also when he meets a fighter.”
Mringie is happy that his decision to introduce Chondo to boxing has moulded him into a decent citizen in an estate known for all manner of unconventional behaviour among the youth.
Mringie, a former pro boxer, wants Chondo to achieve what he didn’t during his heydays as a boxer.
“Since I didn’t achieve my goal, I decided to help Manu to do better than me, we now want him to develop a big punch.
“I’m happy he’s doing much better than his friends most of whom are jobless in the estate, they regret why they stopped training. His heart is on working for KDF.”
Chondo pointed out the biggest stumbling block facing Gen-Z generation in boxing is unemployment, forcing some of them to quit in search of greener pastures.
“I believe if the forces that’s KDF, Police and Prisons avail employment opportunities for the youth we will have more good boxers for the national team, once employed we will have enough time to train without the stress of hustling to get money because we will be on payroll,” said Chondo who sells shoes and clothes online to earn a living.
“The online business is helpful but not perfect, at least I earn some money for my upkeep but still not enough to enable me stay on my own. Right now I’m staying with my parents in Jericho Estate.”
On completion of his secondary education at St. Patricks in Makadara Constituency in 2022, Chondo enrolled at Aviation College for a computer course.
“I want to get a good permanent job through boxing to be stable in life. I’m very grateful to coach Mringie for introducing me to boxing, it has helped me avoid bad company.
“While still a junior in boxing, I did it for fun I was not serious but with time I realised boxing could open more opportunities for me, and that kept me going especially seeing some of my friends in KDF, I hope I’ll soon join them there.”
His friend and rival in the ring Kyalo said they will warmly welcome Chondo at KDF.
“He’s a good boxer there’s no doubt about it. He’s also my friend but in the ring time will tell who is better,” said Kyalo. He further explains why Chondo will be an asset at KDF.
“Manu will be very useful especially in the league, we can be giving each other a chance instead of having just one boxer, the league is tough and tiresome. At times when a boxer is injured it’s better to have more than one boxer per weight to replace the injured one.”
Chondo was born and brought up in Nairobi but hails from Kilifi County in Kenya’s Coastal Region.
“Nairobi is like my home now, I like it here, all my friends are in our capital city,” said Chondo as he looks ahead to a prosperous future in the squared circle.
