They will run a four-day training camp for county boxers in the countdown to the second leg of the Kenya National Boxing League
The countdown to the highly anticipated second leg of the Kenya National Boxing League has started in earnest with the arrival of two French trainers in Mombasa on July 9.
Multiple French champion and former European super-lightweight title holder Franck Petitjean (25-7-3, 7 KOs) and renowned fitness coach Valentino Gargiulo will hold a four-day training camp alongside six local coaches for the Mombasa County team to take part in the league from July 17-19 at Alliance Francaise Cultural Centre in the leafy suburb of Nyali in Kenya’s famous tourist resort city of Mombasa.
Alliance Francaise Director Lucas Malcor said the two experienced trainers will share their knowledge with the Mombasa boxers in the ongoing Kenya-France boxing cooperation.
In the first phase of the cooperation, Alliance Francaise sponsored the National Coaches, Referees and Judges course and distributed equipment worth over $20,000 which has been shared among the registered clubs.
The support is aimed at improving boxing development in Mombasa County which is currently going through a lean spell without a national champion owing to the low standards of the sport.
In the past, Mombasa has produced several outstanding boxers who donned the national jersey among them my good friend John Opio, Yakub Sebby, Boniface Kahoro, Ashira Oure and Lemmy “Cobra” Katibi.
Currently policeman Shaffi Bakari, a product of coach Cobra, is the only boxer from Mombasa in the national team. He won a bronze medal in the 2024 Africa Championships in Kinshasa, DR Congo. Former national champion Mwinyi “Giant Killer” is the other promising Mombasa boxer who normally represents Kenya Prisons.
Women’s boxing in Mombasa has yet to pick up with no boxer having represented the national team.
Malcor said they also intend to take boxing to the schools in the Ndondi Mashinani initiative of the Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK).
“We have identified 10 schools for the Ndondi Shuleni program, we will do it in concert with the Education Ministry and the parents,” Malcor told boxersworld.co.ke.
Mombasa County has promised to bring on board sponsors to take over from the French Embassy once they’re through with thel ongoing cooperation in October.
Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Nassir will lead the way in identifying sponsors to ensure continuity of Ndondi Mashinani initiative
