WHEN BOXING ICON IKHONI’S MORALE WAS SKY-HIGH
▪️ The late Kenyan boxer was so happy and excited he had turned professional in Japan
On a bright Sunday morning in August 16, 1981, Isaiah “Danicho” Ikhoni was in seventh heaven when we met in the Central Business District of Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi.
We had agreed with Ikhoni the previous day to meet in town and then board a matatu (public transport vehicle) heading to Langata Women’s Prison.
There were no mobile phones by then. If we were to meet anywhere it was through word of mouth, and Ikhoni was very particular with time, always punctual. He didn’t like late comers. Therefore, I made sure I kept time.
I had never seen Ikhoni in such a vibrant mood as we shook hands and then we went to board matatus heading to Langata Women’s Prison where we were to hook up with Napunyi Oduori at his wife’s house. Eva, Napunyi’s better half, was a Prisons warder; so was Napunyi who had by then resigned from Kenya Prisons Service.
“Naona leo umepiga rivals wako wa magazeti KO, (I can see today you’ve KO’d your rivals in the newspapers),” a smiling Ikhoni jokingly told me as he went through the back page story of Nairobi Times that exclusively reported Ikhoni and Napunyi had turned professional in Tokyo, Japan.
I burst out laughing too because I was also excited that my two buddies had turned professional, and of course I had this proud feeling of conquest in scooping more experienced sports journalists such as my friend, the late Stephen Ongaro of the Daily Nation, who was doing remarkably well in reporting boxing. By then I was a rookie Sports Journalist with the Weekly Review/Nairobi Times publications owned by the late Hilary Ng’weno, one of Kenya’s most respected journalists and media owner from whom I learnt a lot.
There was even more excitement and strong handshakes on arrival at Langata Women’s Prison.
Napunyi and family welcomed us warmly each one of us mesmerised of the impending trip to Japan by the two Kenyan star boxers.
“Eva leo nataka ugali ya kushiba unajua vile Waluhya tunakula, sijui kama tutakula ugali lini tena” (Eva today I want to eat enough ugali you know how we Luhyas eat, I don’t know when I’ll eat ugali again),” Ikhoni told Napunyi’s wife as we settled down. The three of us decided to sit outside to enjoy the fresh air, sip our drinks and talk nothing else but boxing.
A jovial Napunyi went through the back page story of Nairobi Times, a weekly Sunday newspaper that had his photo with Ikhoni headlined: NAPUNYI, IKHONI TURN PROFESSIONAL.
“Yaani sasa Danicho sisi ni mapro tutacheza kifua tupu tumeachana na vest, (we’re now pros Ikhoni we will fight bare-chested we’ll not wear vests again) Napunyi would keep on saying that severally obviously very happy they have achieved their goal. It is the dream of most ambitious boxers to turn pro and win a world title.
Our chitchat revolved around their trip to Japan, world champions then in pro at featherweight and lightweight. We also talked about their past participation in some of the international tournaments especially the historic victory in early 1981 in Bangkok, Thailand, where with only five boxers Kenya won the prestigious King’s Cup tournament. Ikhoni, Napunyi and Kamau “Pipino” Wanyoike won gold medals and bantamweight Hussein Khalili silver with heavyweight James “Demosh” Omondi losing his first fight. I really enjoyed their chat on the Bangkok achievement.
Ikhoni, boxing in his second King’s Cup having won silver in 1980, outpointed South Korea’s Lee Hyun Joo whom he gave little room to breathe subjecting him to a non-stop barrage of two-fisted flurries at Hua Mark Indoor Stadium. Over 200 boxers from 23 countries took part in the annual tournament.
Napunyi was in the best form of his boxing career outpunching South Korea’s Kim Ki Tack at featherweight in the most exciting bout of the night. Kim’s face was a mask of blood after the intensive three-rounder in which he received two standing counts in the first and second rounds. Napunyi and his opponent received shields engraved with the words: The Most Exciting Bout.
Wanyoike outpointed Thailand’s Charlee Mauleen to win his second consecutive gold medal in the King’s Cup, while Khalili lost to South Korea’s Ji-Won in the finals, a decision that surprised some fans who felt he was the rightful winner.
Demosh had his heavyweight bout stopped in round three because of a cut above his left eye following a head-on collision against Soviet Union’s Dolgun Vladimir. The Kenyan was ahead on points but by then the rules had not been revised. If that happened today, Omondi would have won on points because it was a head-on collision but if the cut was through clean punches the Russian would win on referee stopped contest (injury) irrespective of whether Omondi was leading on points.
Eva finally served us with a “mountain of ugali”, a staple dish in Kenya and East Africa made from maize flour. It was accompanied by nicely cooked and appetising beef stew. As if he was in the ring, Ikhoni opened war on the ugali attacking it from all angles. He loved eating well and did not like people talking while eating.
Back to our lively chitchat on past international tournaments involving Ikhoni and Napunyi as we sipped our drinks digesting Eva’s solid ugali. The drinks were slowly taking shape now, and as we say in Nairobi kanashiiiiiiiiika!
Ikhoni took us to Manila, recalling how Napunyi frantically tried to make his way to the airport but missed the flight to, Philippines, for President Marcos Cup tournament. Ikhoni was really keen to know what exactly happened. He was the only gold medallist in Manila while Pipino and Ali “Ojukwu” Athumani won silver medals and a bronze by Aloice “Lesles” Muiruri.
“Ppu (as his comrades referred to Napunyi) ungekua Manila hungekosa gold (If you were in Manila you’d have won a gold medal),” Ikhoni said as we analysed the tournament and how he fought with an injured left eardrum. Ikhoni really believed in Napunyi and admired his textbook boxing.
We laughed heartily recalling their duel at Ruaraka’s Tusker Village Hall in November, 1980, when Breweries clashed with Prisons during the Breweries Sports Festival.
Ikhoni and Napunyi displayed one of the best fights witnessed on Kenyan soil. It was a thrilling action-packed, toe-to-toe exchange and clinch-free show that left fans asking for more after the third round. Ikhoni won on points avenging the 1979 defeat by Napunyi at bantamweight in Kitale where the bottlers met Prisons in a friendly match. At Ruaraka they fought in the featherweight division.
As dusk approached, Napunyi bid farewell to his family with Ikhoni thanking Eva for the large portion of ugali and beef stew. We then left for the city centre our destination being 680 Hotel. That’s where they connected with their Kenyan contact in Japan, Ephraim Nthambiri who travelled with them to Tokyo. He promised to keep me posted on their progress as we parted company with the champion boxers. True to his word he fed me with their progress and photos on arrival in Tokyo where they were given Japanese names.
Ikhoni was named Yonekura and Napunyi Yushin. Soon they set the Japanese pro boxing scene ablaze with their scintillating performances, both winning their first four fights with Ikhoni’s victories coming via KO’s.
Making his debut on September 1, 1981, Ikhoni KO’d Kaneatsu Yamamoto in the first round of a scheduled six rounder, while on the same card Napunyi outpointed Fusao Imai on points. Moreover, he proceeded to win the Japanese featherweight title with a 10-round points victory over the dreaded Spider Nemoto in his fourth fight but relinquished the title to Nemoto in the return match after which Napunyi returned to Nairobi and decided to fight from Kenya.
With Napunyi back home, Ikhoni was now on his own carrying Kenya’s flag in Japan. Having won his first four fights via KO’s, Ikhoni suffered his first loss to Hikaru Tomonari on June 1, 1982.
After his first defeat, Ikhoni, who also clinched the Japanese super-featherweight title, won the next two fights against Hiroshi Osumi whom he KO’d in round one and an 8th round TKO win over Yasuhide Takahashi.
Ikhoni’s fight against Osumi was an explosive encounter. The Kenyan boxer was then 4-1, 4 KOs and Osumi 4-4-1, 4 KOs. Over to asianboxing.info for more details on Ikhoni’s fight with Osumi.
“By his third bout Ikhoni was fighting in 10 rounds, and raced out to 4-0 (4) in just over 6 months as a professional. He was then beaten by Hikaru Tomonari and the loss seemed like a real setback for him. To rebuild his confidence he went in with the limited Hiroshi Osumi.
“Sporting a 4-4-1 record, Osumi wasn’t a particularly good boxer, but he was a solid fighter, with fight changing power. He was crude, but if, and when he landed he could really mess people up. Despite his four losses it’s worth noting that three of those had come to Cheyenna Yamamoto, a future Japanese national champion and his draw had come to Masaharu Owada, another future Japanese champion. He had only been stopped once in his four losses coming into this, and that was against Cheyenne Yamamoto, in six rounds in their third bout, and he went in against Ikhoni with the intention of upsetting the talented Kenyan.
“From the very first seconds Osumi was pressing forward whilst Ikhoni was looking to box and move. Within 30 seconds we saw the first knockdown and it was a big one as a huge overhand right from Osumi dropped Ikhoni. Ikhoni got to his feet quickly but the Kenyan seemed to be in all sorts of trouble when Osumi waded in and the referee gave Ikhoni a standing count.
“The bout could have been stopped after the knockdown, it could have been stopped when the referee decided to give Ikhoni a standing count. It could also have been stopped soon afterwards as Osumi started to ragdoll Ikhoni around the ring as he pursued his man. Ikhoni held, spoiled, tried to clear his head, slipped and ducked and did all he could to try and see out the aggressive charge of Osumi. He was then hurt again and decided his best plan was to fight fire with fire.
“After a huge flurry from Ikhoni we had the third knockdown of the fight, with Osumi hitting the canvas. He tried to get to his feet, and he tried to continue, but he couldn’t and he ended up being counted out after just over 2 minutes of the first round.”
What was amply evident in Ikhoni’s fight with Osumi was his resilience, persistence and absorbing punishment without flinching. That’s how he won the fight via a KO.
Ikhoni then suffered his second defeat at the hands of Japan’s Yoshitsu Asato on May 23, 1983 but he avenged the defeat the following year with a 10-round points win, and beat Asato for the second time in September 25, 1984 in their third fight with another 10-round points victory. Ikhoni’s last fight before he quit pro boxing was in October 22, 1985, knocking out Koki Higashi in the fifth round. He defended the Japanese super featherweight title five times.
WHY IKHONI QUIT PRO BOXING PREMATURELY IN 1985
Again over to asianboxing.info on Ikhoni’s stepping out of the ring.
“In 1985 the hugely popular Hidekazu Akai was forced to retire due to a bleed on the brain. Following Akai’s injury, boxers in Japan were required to undergo CT scans, and a number of those scanned showed irregularities including Ikhoni who was forced to retire from boxing in Japan as a result.
“He originally wanted to fight on but was talked out of it by the chairman of the Yonekura Gym, who explained to the disappointed Kenyan boxer that life was more important than fighting. Following his retirement Ikhoni worked as a trainer at the Yonekura Gym which eventually closed in 2017.
“At the time of his retirement Ikhoni was world ranked and seemed on the verge of a world title fight. He had climbed into the rankings on the back of eight straight wins, including five defenses of the Japanese Super Featherweight title. Those five challenges saw him tying second, at the time, for the most defenses of the belt.”
Ikhoni (14-2-0, 10 KOs)decided to return to Kenya in 1987, becoming very active at the Kenya Professional Boxing Commission as a referee and judge. He was also the secretary-general of the Kenya Boxers Welfare organisation.
One day he opened up to me on why he decided to quit pro boxing against his wishes as was reported by asianboxing.info.
“A brain scan showed I had a blood clot so I couldn’t risk my life to continue fighting, it was very painful for me to stop boxing unexpectedly,” he told me, pointing out the importance of regular brain scanning for pro boxers in Kenya.
“Brain scanning for pro boxers is a must if we’re to avoid boxers losing their lives due to negligence.”
A few months to his sudden death, we had agreed to meet so that he can talk at length on the issue of CT scan and what needs to be done to avoid a disaster in Kenya’s pro boxing.
Unfortunately, we never had the big interview. His demise came as a stabbing shock in the back to me. When legendary boxer Steve Muchoki called to inform me Ikhoni was no more, I felt down trodden and nostalgic. The former champion died with very important information that he was ready to share with me.
Available information on internet says a CT scan, also known as a CAT scan or computed tomography scan, is a medical imaging procedure that uses X-rays and computer technology to create detailed, cross-sectional images of the body. These images, often called “slices,” provide a more detailed view than traditional X-rays and can help doctors diagnose injuries and diseases, plan treatments, and monitor the effectiveness of therapies.
Here’s a more detailed explanation and how it works:
A CT scanner rotates around the patient, taking multiple X-ray images from different angles. These images are then processed by a computer to create cross-sectional views of the body, similar to slices of bread.
What it shows:
CT scans can visualize bones, muscles, organs, blood vessels, and other tissues in great detail. This allows doctors to identify fractures, tumors, internal bleeding, blood clots, and other abnormalities.
Contrast agents:
Sometimes, a contrast agent (dye) is injected or swallowed to enhance the visibility of certain tissues or blood vessels in the images.
The main obstacle to CT scans in Kenya and Africa as a whole is the huge amount involved to seek the services of a neurosurgeon. Therefore, when it comes to the issue of boxers’ health in Africa’s pro boxing, it’s every man for himself and God for us all. Boxing leaders know very well the side effects of pro boxing health wise but ignore this fact opting to let nature take its course.
WHAT TYPE OF A BOXER WAS IKHONI?
Uganda’s Cuban Businge fought the late Kenyan boxer four times, losing thrice and winning once.
He shares his insight on Ikhoni’s approach in the ring: “Ikhoni was an aggressive boxer-fighter with strong punches in either hand.
He was gifted with seemingly inexhaustable stamina and ability to dish out punishment and absorb strong punches, a valuable asset which he utilized well in his relentless attacks.
The only way to counter his swarming style of boxing was to adopt a circling and side-to-side quick counter-punching technique.
His display of sportsmanship to his opponents after contests is one of the legacies which he has left behind for others to emulate.
May his soul be granted a peaceful rest.”
One of Kenya’s most successful and longest-serving international boxers, Patrick “Mont” Waweru, was the captain of the national team when Ikhoni represented Kenya. He describes Ikhoni as a very daring boxer.
“Ikhoni was a courageous boxer not a coward,” says Waweru, adding: “I have seen several boxers’ eyes change to cowardice nearer the competition but they do take part of course. Ikhoni was a dare-devil. He feared nobody and punched hard with either fist. He knew when to fight and when to box. I liked his sparring.”
Three-time King’s Cup champion Kamau “Pipino” Wanyoike says Ikhoni was an asset in the national team, a boxer who radiated confidence in others in the team.
“Ikhoni was naturally a good boxer gifted with a lot of stamina. At first he used to rush but when he joined the national team we gave him feedback and changed his approach. He was a fast learner and always ready to be corrected,” says Wanyoike.
Ikhoni’s nephew Paul Mukhwaya says Ikhoni was a fighting machine and had a variety of punches. They started boxing together in 1975 at Nakuru Amateur Boxing Club under coach Peter Morris. By then, recalls Mukhwaya, Ikhoni was a form one student at Town High School after completing his primary education at Flamingo Primary School in 1974.
“Ikhoni was a very good boxer. He beat all the big names in Kenya as a light-flyweight,” Mukhwaya told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview.
“Ikhoni! That man was bad news, boxers feared him because his punches were like dynamite. He hit his opponents ruthlessly and was also a dangerous body puncher, a tactic he learnt from former international George Findo.”
Mukhwaya says before Ikhoni joined Breweries, there was friction between the coach of Nakuru ABC Peter Morris and Breweries’ coach Charles Anjimbi who was also the national team coach.
“Breweries wanted to poach him but Morris didn’t want to lose Ikhoni,” recalls Mukhwaya, further explaining how Anjimbi snatched Ikhoni from Nakuru ABC to travel with him to Kampala.
“In 1977 Anjimbi convinced Ikhoni to represent Breweries against Kampala City Council in Kampala as a flyweight. He lost to Businge (Cuban) and on return to Kenya he decided to quit school in form three to join Breweries, boxing was in his blood. Morris was so mad with Anjimbi but there was nothing he could do. My brother had decided Breweries was the place to be.”
A long-time friend of Ikhoni in Nakuru often referred now as NaxVegas, John Githanga, praised Ikhoni’s friendly nature, and always calm even in the face of adversity.
Says Githanga: “We were together with Ikhoni at Flamingo Primary, and had our fun as boy scouts. As a boxer he displayed a lot of tact, ferocity and endurance.”
IKHONI WAS THE EIGHTH-BORN IN A FAMILY OF NINE CHILDREN
Isaiah Ikhoni was born in October 17, 1959, to Josephat Akhaule and Eliseba Minaira from Estsongolo village, East Bunyore in Vihiga County. Both parents are deceased.
Ikhoni was the eighth-born in a family of nine children, five boys and four girls.
The nine children in order of birth:
1) Hellen Mukusa
2) Grace Khaombi
3) George Otieno
4) Peter Koi
5) Hezron Anzoga
6) Rasoha Khabere
7) James Ayodi
8) Isaiah Ikhoni
9) Beatrice Akhaule
Of the nine children, only three are alive now: George Otieno, James Ayodi and Beatrice Akhaule.
In an interview with Ayodi, he says the late Ikhoni was a quiet person madly in love with boxing.
“He was down to earth, even after turning professional he never changed, he maintained close contact with his friends most of whom were boxers,” says Ayodi.
Ikhoni married his deskmate at Town High School, Beatrice. The couple have two children, the first-born Emmy and Brian Ikhoni.
Emmy was a staunch supporter of his dad in the ring. She shares her views on her father’s involvement with boxing.
“I respected dad a lot, It wasn’t an easy path to choose to make a living through boxing, it’s a matter of life death but that was him very brave man,” says Emmy affectionately with a deserved sense of pride.
“When I first watched his game I almost fainted, I yelled daaad punch him!
“Mom is a rock, she’s not easily shaken but she never went to watch his live matches.”
We in the boxing fraternity say goodbye to one of Kenya’s great boxers who inspired many youngsters take up the sport in Nakuru.
Isaiah Ikhoni you have left an indelible mark in Kenya’s boxing history with your incredible and eye-popping achievements in the squared circle. Fare Thee Well Danicho.
