POOR START FOR AFRICAN BOXERS IN SERBIA WORLDS

Four walkovers and one stoppage highlighted a miserable day in the office for African boxers. All the five boxers lost on the opening day of Women’s World Boxing Championships in Nis, Serbia on Sunday, March 9.

It’s only Kenya’s light-flyweight Veronica Mbithe who went the full distance before losing to Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova. Her competitor was a silver and bronze medalist in the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. Balkibekova won 5-0 in the one sided bout.

The Kazakhstan boxer, who’s also a double gold medalist in the Asian Championships, was on a picnic, toying around with Mbithe by piling points at will and using a dummy jab to open up sporadic target punches that left a bewildered Mbithe at sea. She failed to conjure up a formula to handle her more experienced and technically superior opponent not to mention that she lacked fluidity in her footwork and most of her punches hardly landed on target.

“She was hitting at me and running away, it was so difficult to get her,” the usually composed Corporal Mbithe told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview.

What’s noticeable however is that Mbithe’s approach has improved considerably unlike in the past when she used to throw several ineffective punches with no game plan in mind.

Kenya’s head coach Musa Benjamin appreciated Mbithe’s efforts against the experienced Kazakh boxer and pinpointed some of Mbithe’s shortcomings.

“We must first appreciate the experience of the Kazakh boxer, a two-time Asian champion and twice world championship medalist,” said the Kenyan coach.

Musa went on: “Mbithe gave a lot of respect to her opponent’s reputation therefore disrupting our fight plans. Instead of circling to her right to avoid the big right hand, she stood squarely in front of her letting her establish her range.

“A dead jab sometimes allowed her opponent to close in and fire her shots, overall performance was good against a very good opponent. A lot of improvement in movement and defense noted “

Lack of exposure was noticeable in Mbithe’s performance and rust too owing to inactivity.

The last time Mbithe fought in the ring was during African Military Games in November, 2024 in Abuja, Nigeria where she won a silver medal in the light-flyweight final. She got a bye to the finals.

After Abuja, Mbithe has been inactive owing to lack of regular competitions, a big problem prevalent in most African countries.

Coupled with the haphazard preparations in a non-residential training at the dilapidated Mathare Police Depot Gym with no government official visiting the team to monitor their training, Mbithe’s situation is understandle. It takes a boxer with extraordinary potential such as Mbithe’s compatriots, 1978 world champion Steve Muchoki and 1982 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Ibrahim Bilali, to excel at the big stage even without exposure using their own ingenuity.

Enter the walkovers. I’m reliably informed the South African boxers are not in Serbia. Like Ghana, Tanzania and DR Congo, issuance of their visas has not materialised.

 A frustrated South Africa National Boxing Organisation (SANABO) Secretary-General Liwa Mlokoti has blasted the Serbians for their slow and “deliberate” pace on issuance of visas.

“It has been a frustrating period for us, the main problem is in Serbia not at their Embassies,” said Mlokoti.

“We have been waiting for visas since last Wednesday. Our team is still in Johannesburg. We have eight boxers and two officials, we’ve incurred a lot of expense s paying to reschedule flights twice.

“We’re still waiting even as of now I’m talking to you Mr Nene, I think it’s deliberate, if we succeed we will take the boxers to Serbia for training there and sparring with some of the world’s top boxers because we can’t be refunded.”

The two South African boxers who lost on walkovers are Mandela Cup light-flyweight bronze medallist Ncube Ntandoyenkosi and lightweight Esona Peter.

As for Tanzania’s heavyweight Rachel Msengi losing via a walkover at heavyweight, that was expected since the East Africans are not yet in Serbia. Frantic efforts are being made to ferry at least one Tanzania boxer to Serbia in time for her bout on Wednesday. That’s if they succeed to be issued with a visa which takes a painfully laborious process because it must be approved in Belgrade.

The other African boxers who lost on the opening day are Ethiopia’s light-flyweight Werkneshi Wada and lightweight Million Cherba via a walkover while Wada was stopped in the second round by Turkey’s Aysen Taskin.

Contacted, Ethiopia’s coach Eyob Tesfsye said : “The transport was delayed and we are still sitting at the hotel.”

Meanwhile, three African boxers are in the ring today, March 10, as the World Championships enters the second day.

Zimbabwe’s light-welterweight Hildah Kaye battles Serbia’s Kristina Kuluhova,Tunisia’s lone representative, bantamweight Islem Ferchichi’s fate in the tournament will be decided in her tough duel against Russia’s stubborn Karina Tazabekova while Ethiopia’s Roman Abate meets Moldova’s Iulia Caroli.

The two Kenyans due to have fought today in the round of 32, flyweight Lencer Akinyi and featherweight Pauline Chege have won their bouts on walkovers. Their opponents, South Africa’s Thandolwethu Mathiba and Montenegro’s Bojana Gojkovic are unavailable giving the Kenyans a safe passage to the pre-quarters without throwing a punch.