WHO WILL HAVE THE LAST LAUGH IN KENYA VS DRC BATTLE WITH SIX FEMALE BOUTS HOLDING THE KEY TO THE EVENTUAL WINNERS
▪️Six female bouts featuring Kenya against DR Congo boxers will be crucial in deciding the overall winners of the 2025 Africa Zone 3 Championships in today’s tension-charged and exciting finals at Kasarani Gym from 1pm
A battle royale is in the offing between Kenya and DR Congo boxers in today’s exciting Africa Zone 3 Boxing Championships finals at Kasarani Gym in Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. Action starts at 1pm.
DR Congo boxers’ morale has been boosted with the arrival of the Congolese Boxing Federation President General Ferdinand Luyoyo who has sounded a warning to the Kenyans: “We will beat them again at home.”
DR Congo have 17 boxers – nine women and eight men – in the finals with Kenya parading 16 boxers – eight male and eight females, Uganda nine, Tanzania five, Cameroon two and Ethiopia one.
The Central Africans are the defending champions having retained the Zone 3 title in 2022 in Kinshasa with 13 gold, 13 silver and 12 bronze medals amid complaints from the visiting countries which accused the hosts of forcefully winning the zonal event through dubious officiating.
Kenya finished as runners-up with six gold, five silver and seven bronze medals followed by Cameroon, guest team Mauritius, Congo Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea in the sixth place.
The 25-bout card with 13 male fights and 12 female boxers has all the ingredients of an explosive showdown.
Six female bouts involving Kenya against DR Congo boxers hold the key to the eventual winners of today’s highly charged finals.
The bouts involve flyweight Faith “Fekete” Nafuna vs Nyembo Gisele, lightweight Emily “Ring Princess” Juma vs Munga Zalia, light-welterweight Cynthia Mwai vs Mbalayi Mbamba, light-middleweight Friza “Smiling Assasin” Asiko vs Muleketsi Nsii, middleweight Liz “Mkono Chuma” Andiego vs Mwamba Lulua and light-heavyweight Lorna “Mambo Mbaya” Kusa vs Malewu Tekasala.
Kenya’s Faith Nafuna will rise to instant fame if she defeats Africa champion Nyembo Gisele, a pressure fighter who is a punching machine. She does not give her opponents time to breathe with her non-stop two-fisted flurries. It will be safe for her to box the DR Congo boxer and avoid falling into the trap of fighting Gisele who besides the gold she won in Kinshasa in 2024, also clinched a silver in the 2023 Africa Championships. The Kenyan boxer made her international debut in the 2024 Africa Championships in Kinshasa.
Stylish lightweight Emily “Ring Princess” Juma is representing the national team for the second time having made her debut in this year’s World Championships in Serbia. She’s fighting a stubborn and stronger opponent in Munga Zalia, a silver medallist in the Africa Championships.
While the Kenyan is a smart boxer, she will be compelled to show more fire and hunger to win by carrying the fight to the DR Congo boxer.
Like Emily, light-welterweight Cynthia Mwai made her debut in the Serbia Worlds. She’s riding high following an upset 5-0 points victory over Uganda’s Africa Military Games champion Erina Namutebi in the semi-finals.
Against DR Congo’s champion Mbalayi Mbamba, Cynthia faces formidable opposition but she’s capable of carrying the day with a good game plan. She should avoid her habit of dropping her left hand and be rock steady in her defence.
Africa Military Games champion Friza “Smiling Assasin” Asiko is a sure bet for victory against newcomer Muleketsi Nsii in the light-middleweight division. So is captain Liz Andiego, the face of female boxing in East Africa. Andiego takes on greenhorn Mwamba Lulua in the middleweight final and she’s likely to win the bout inside the distance.
At light-heavyweight, Lorna Kusa will not have it easy against the 2023 Africa champion Malewu Tekasala. Both are however equally matched with a wealth of experience. Kusa and Andiego are the longest-serving members in Kenya’s national team. They both made their debuts in 2010 in the World Championships in Barbados. Tekasala has been fighting since 2010 and was inspired by Mike Tyson to take up boxing.
Kenya has already won gold even before the finals start at 1pm today. The men’s light-middleweight is an all-Kenyan affair with Africa champion Boniface “The Hammer” Mogunde taking on Alvin “Liwalo Liwe” Oduor relying on omena power to carry the day. The two have met once with Mogunde outpointing Oduor, the KDF soldier banking on the rich protein from omena fish to overcome Mogunde. He says he has been eating the delicacy since he was born and can’t do without it since it is now part of his life.
Uganda, Kenya’s rivals in the ring since the 1950s, have accounted well for themselves with skillful boxing from some of their boxers in particular captain Kasim Murungi, a bronze medallist in the African Games in Accra. The Ugandans have nine boxers in the finals.
Murungi has a date against stubborn and hard hitting Kenyan, Mwinyi “Giant Killer” Kombo in one of the highlights of the day.
Sensational female featherweight Fatuma “The Thunder” Nabikolo is confident of victory against Phoba Kerene. A bronze medallist at the 2024 Mandela African Boxing Cup Championships, Fatuma is now punching harder since moving up to featherweight from bantamweight.
“I watched my opponent in the semi-finals, I know how to contain her she’s not a threat at all,” Fatuma told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview. She received a bye to the finals.
Tanzania has five boxers in the finals with captain Yusuf Changalawe, bantamweight Zulfa Macho and lightweight Ezra Paul among their favourites.
Changalawe battles Kenya’s Humphrey “Jakababa” Ochieng, Zulfa will have it rough against Kenya’s big-punching Amina Martha, a bronze medallist in the African Games in Accra. The Kenyan is a no-nonsense fighter in the ring always carrying the battle to her opponents. A visit to the canvas cannot be ruled out for the Tanzanian boxer. Ezra Paul meets DR Congo’s Kitangila Mweba.
Cameroon has two boxers in the finals, Africa flyweight bronze medallist Issouhou Mouhaman and tallman Serge Mvogo, a gold medallist at the 2023 Africa Championships in Yaounde. Mouhaman meets Kenya’s promising debutant Diouf “Bashday” Muimi while Mvogo fights DR Congo’s Mukwasa Emo at super-heavyweight.
Ethiopia’s lone finalist Fetan Kele will fight DR Congo’s Africa minimumweight champion Diyoka Benedicte.
This year’s Africa Zone 3 Championships attracted 123 boxers from nine countries namely Kenya, DR Congo, Tanzania, Uganda, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville and Rwanda.
Photos and photo design by Duncan Kuria aka Sugar Ray
