KAHAWA TOPS NAIROBI NOVICES
Kahawa Boxing Club won the Nairobi Novices Championships by the skin of their teeth brushing aside stiff challenge from Kibra Olympic and Mukuru Fight-4-Life in the finals of this tournament for rookies held at Kaloleni open ground on Saturday, January 25.
Coached by former international, Newton “Norton” Mwaura, Kahawa collected 11 points followed by Kibra Olympic 10, Mukuru Fight-4-Life 9, Kasarani Youth 8, Kariobangi and Thailand 7 each, Mbotela 6, Kibra Youth 5, Umoja and Jericho 4 points each.
With country novices over, focus now turns to the national novices. Nairobi will have to up their game to maintain their domination of Kenya boxing. Most of their boxers still need a lot of polishing and proper physical fitness to hold their own in the nationals.
Light-middleweight John Muthiani, a resident of Umoja but representing Jericho, was the most impressive performer in the finals, stopping Mbotela’s Paul Otieno in the third round.
The 23-year-old Muthiani, who trains on his own most of the time, showed a lot of promise, subjecting Otieno to two standing counts.He has the reach and perfect timing in his punches, and is therefore capable of going places with proper coaching.
The Nairobi Novices Finals were supervised by former international and gold medallist at the 1987 African Games, Maurice Maina assisted by Hassan Salim.
Among former internationals who graced the finals were two-time African Games gold medallist Suleiman Bilali and 1998 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Absalom “Diblo” Okinyi.
The three-day Nairobi Novices Championships attracted 181 boxers from 27 clubs.
There’s still lots of interest in boxing among Kenyan youngsters but scarcity of jobs remains a major stumbling block. They should all be encouraged to take their studies seriously as this will open up alternative employment opportunities for them other than the forces which employ most Kenyan boxers.
Full results of Nairobi Novices Finals
*Light-flyweight:* Stanley Mathenge (Kasarani Youth) outpointed Fredrick Kamau (Thailand)
*Flyweight:* Nicholas Movo (Mukuru F4L) outpointed Duncan Mwangera (Umoja)
*Bantamweight:* Dennis Ngunjiri (Thailand) outpointed Mohammed Awad (St Teresa’s)
*Featherweight:* Rolex Otieno (Mbotela) outpointed Alexander Nzioka (Kahawa)
*Lightweight:* Felix Kuria (Kahawa) outpointed Eugene Shikanga (Lumumba)
*Bantamweight women:* Everline Nyambura (Mukuru F4L) outpointed Sheila Auma (Kibera Olympic)
*Light-welterweight:* Asebo Abdullah (Kariobangi) stopped Evans Ngereso (Kibra Youth) round one
*Welterweight:* Paul Misachi (Mukuru F4L) outpointed Godfrey Otieno (Kasarani Youth)
*Light-middleweight:* John Muthiani (Jericho) stopped Paul Otieno (Mbotela) round three
*Middleweight:* Kennedy Omollo (Kibera Olympic) stopped Hido Dagu (Kariobangi) round one
*Lightweight women:* Razia Afzali (Kasarani) outpointed Rahab Mumbu (St Teresa’s)
*Light-heavyweight:* Malin Jamal (St Teresa’s) KO’d Evans Bosire (Kahawa) round one
*Cruiserweight:* Clinton Mwangi ( Kahawa) stopped Musa Ali (Kibra Olympic) round two
*Super-heavyweight:* Harman Singh (Kibra Olympic) stopped Joram Mwangi (Kasarani Youth) round three
