Boxers

KENYA’S LIZ ANDIEGO ASSURED OF KSH1.2 MILLION, SHE WANTS TO SMASH HER OPPONENT’S RIBS

Liz Andiego (far left) is relying on the support of her teammates in Serbia to silence her Chinese opponent in the quarter-finals on Thursday, March 13.

KENYA’S LIZ ANDIEGO ASSURED OF KSH1.2 MILLION, SHE WANTS TO SMASH HER OPPONENT’S RIBS

Liz Andiego carrying the hopes of over 50 million Kenyans.

Win or lose, Kenya’s Liz Andiego is assured of $10,000 (Ksh 1,295,000), the prize money for quarter-finalists in the ongoing Women’s World Boxing Championships in Serbia.

It’s the first time the International Boxing Association (IBA) is offering quarter-finalists prize money in addition to $100,000 for gold medalists, silver medalists earning $50,000 and $25,000 for the two bronze medalists. That’s why IBA leads and others follow.

There is no doubt Ladyluck has been very generous to Kenya’s most successful female boxer Liz Andiego who is also the face of women’s boxing in East Africa.

She becomes the first East African boxer to earn the newly-introduced $10,000 for quarter-finalists in the World Championships.

At the 2022 Women’s World Boxing in Turkey, she received a bye to the quarter-finals, losing 5-0 to homegirl, 39-year-old Elif Guneri.

Ladyluck again smiled to the Kenyan warhorse in the 2023 World Championships in New Delhi, India, where she again got a bye to the quarter-finals, and lost on points to Kazakhstan’s Fariza Sholtay.

In this year’s Serbia Worlds, Ladyluck again gave Liz a warm hug as she received a bye to the quarters.

BFK President Jamal handed over power to Liz Andiego in his office at Chel-C Hotel ahead of Serbia Worlds.

It’s her third quarter-final appearance in the World Championships, battling China’s Wang Xiaomeng who defeated Asian champion Gulsaya Yerzhan from Kazakhstan in the pre-quarters.

The big question remains: What strategy should Liz adopt against the Chinese boxer?

Should she throw caution to the wind and fight her to mess up her game plan?

How about a phone booth approach?, making sure Xiaomeng doesn’t get an inch to keep Liz at bay. Hapa kwa hapa!

The Kenyan star boxer, an upright campaigner who prefers to hit the head mostly, can as well decide to go for the body taking advantage of her power to repeatedly smash the Chinese with screaming body blows spiced with energy-sapping short uppercuts at her solar-plexus, or _kaasho_ it you like.

Liz could break her ribs in the ensuing body raid. This is boxing. If it happens, it’ll be bad luck for the Chinese boxer but this is a bout she has to win because the two-time Africa Championships silver medalists is carrying the hopes of over 50 million Kenyans.