▪️The Kenyans like most other African countries had a bad day in the office losing their first fight on Day One of World Futures Cup U19 boxing tournament in Bangkok, Thailand
March 9, 2026
Kenya’s national team head coach Musa Benjamin pulls no punches in describing the big gap on boxing finesse between African boxers and their counterparts from Europe, Asia and the USA.
Musa made the remarks after the first day of the World Futures Cup U19 boxing tournament which started in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday, March 8, 2026.
He was at the corner when his boxer, Phelix Ochieng, was stopped in the first round by Kazakhstan’s southpaw Doszhan Zhumakhan who subjected the Kenyan boxer to two standing countries after which the referee stopped the fight.
The vast gap in skill level was evident in the fight as Ochieng was unable to cope up with the speed and superior ring craft of his swift and faster opponent who scored at will as the Kenyan struggled to find the range.
“The Kazakh’s stance was the first problem, then he was also too quick both on his feet and hands,” Musa told boxersworld.co.ke in a telephone interview from Bangkok.
Musa however had reservations on the referee’s abrupt decision to stop the fight after she gave Ochieng two standing counts of eight.
“Phelix hadn’t established his range and rhythm before the ref stopped it. I feel the stoppage was premature at that stage because our boxer was not hurt by any punch and was not wobbling,” said Musa.
The Kenyan coach however accepted African boxers, whose exposure is minimal coupled with inadequate preparations, have a lot of catching up to do with the European and Asian countries.
“Well, the gap is evident. There are teams that were here weeks ago for training camps,” noted Musa, suggesting the way forward.
“The critical areas,” he said, “that need urgent support are, infrastructure, grassroots development, regular exposure and technical capacity building. Without these, competing against the top nations is going to be very difficult.”
The four Kenyan boxers trained for a few days at the poorly-equipped Mathare Police Depot Gym. The fact that they’re all students made it difficult for daytime training.
