Africa-Press – Kenya. A group of boxing enthusiasts in Mombasa are working hard to revive the sport at the Coast, which they say has been on its death bed for quite a while.
The group, comprising of Mzee Mwinyi and Juma Mashuhuri, on Wednesday said the sport has the potential to create employment just like football, only that it has been neglected by both the government and corporates.
The two, in partnership with the Mombasa county government, have organized a festival dubbed “Pwani Boxing Festival 2025” set for Boxing Day at the Mama Ngina waterfront Park in Mombasa.
The one-day festival will include 10 bouts and will run the whole day, starting with the weighing of boxers from 7am.
“These bouts will have representation from the local boxing clubs in Mombasa. All this is to provide a platform for the youth who are interested in boxing to be in the sport and to inspire others to join the sport,” Mwinyi said.
In 2023, they also organized the Mombasa International Boxing Festival, which took place for seven days.
“We are introducing the aspect of sports tourism this year in 2025,” he said.
Mzee Mwinyi speaks to boxing stakeholders at Mama Ngina Waterfront Park on Wednesday./BRIAN OTIENOSpeaking at Mama Ngina Waterfront Park during a meeting with boxers to iron out details of the Pwani Boxing Festival, Mwinyi said boxing instills discipline and opens opportunities for youth.
“We know how our areas are here in Mombasa and in the entire Coast. Our youth are idle, especially during these school holidays. Now and then, you hear the panga boys have slashed people.
“We tell the youth, all this will not help them. But when they join a sport like boxing, there are opportunities that can be got. There are school scholarships, jobs, corporate endorsements, among others,” Mwinyi said.
Juma Mashuhuri, a boxing enthusiast and co-organizer of the Pwani Boxing Festival at Mama Ngina Waterfront Park on Wednesday./BRAINA OTIENOHe said boxing youth have in the past been recruited in the Kenya Defense Forces, Kenya Police Services, while others have travelled all over the world and gotten jobs in security firms.
Mwinyi called on the government and the corporate world to reignite their interest in boxing.
Mashuhuri said Mombasa was once the epitome of boxing talent.
“Our aim is to bring back the glory of boxing to Mombasa. Boxing is a career just like any other career. It needs support, dedication and sponsorship,” the co-organizer said.
Mzee Mwinyi speaks to boxing stakeholders at Mama Ngina Waterfront Park on Wednesday./BRIAN OTIENOContrary to popular belief, Mashuhuri said, boxing is not a sport for hooligans.
It is a sport that has been misunderstood by many for a long time.
He said winners in every bout will be rewarded handsomely so as to re-ignite the passion for the sport.
Both coaches and players will be rewarded, Mashuhuri said.
Tonny Samson, a coach from Transfix Boxing Club in Frere Town ward, Nyali constituency, said sponsorship is the biggest problem in boxing.
The sport itself is hard as training requires specialized equipment, which are expensive.
“A pair of 16 oz sparring gloves goes for about Sh32,000. You have not talked about head gear, ring boots and things like that,” Samson said.
The coach said Mombasa has about 20 active boxing clubs, with about five having been formed as recently as five months ago.
He said boxing clubs in Mombasa lack basic training equipment and training facilities.
“We have nowhere to train. We train in borrowed classrooms in schools, which becomes difficult whenever there are exams,” Samson said.
Boxers and boxing stakeholders at Mama Ngina Waterfront Park on Wednesday./BRIAN OTIENOThe coach noted that his Frere Town area is the worst hit because they share a training hall with other sporting disciplines including karate, taekwondo, acrobatics, dancers, and a temporary methadone treatment clinic for drug addicts, who usually misbehave at the facility.
“These people have cost me a sponsor from the UK. He insisted on coming to see where I train my boxers and when he saw the place, with all the addicts lazing around, he thought I was not serious, left the equipment he had brought and never talked to me again,” Samson said.
He appealed to the county government to relocate the methadone treatment centre from the Chandaria Hall in Frere Town.
“Most parents who bring their children to the place freak out when they see the addicts. We are losing out,” he said.
Paul Mathenge “Swagger”, a veteran boxing coach who trains youth at Zero Zero Boxing Club, and who doubles and a village elder, said coaches have to sometimes dig deep into their own pockets to cater for the fares and food for their players.
Swagger said the lack of jobs among the youth pushes them to vices like drug abuse and crime, which messes up their minds and they cannot think about sports.
“That is why I sit with them for an hour either after or before any training session just to talk to them about the dangers of drug abuse and crime,” the veteran coach said.
He said those who take boxing seriously have transformed their lives.
“I have trained a former street boy from Makadara ground and is now a professional boxer who joined the KDF,” Swagger said.
He called on the wealthy individuals in Mombasa to chip in and sponsor boxing as a sport.
“Youth lose hope in boxing because there is no one to hold their hands,” Swagger said.
He said they train for mainly two events in a year, which include the boxing league, and the Kenya Open Boxing Tournament.
“These leagues also sometimes fail to take place, especially here at the Coast, because there is no one to sponsor it,” he said.
Leila Said, a boxing referee and judge, said referees have to dig deep into their own pockets to travel for boxing refereeing in different parts of the country.
Said, who has her own boxing club in Likoni called Vijiweni Boxing Club, said three of her boxers will participate in the Pwani Boxing Festival.
“Our leaders should start thinking about boxing as a sport. Sports is not only about football,” Said said.
She noted that other counties support their referees and it is time Mombasa county did the same.
Veronica Mbithe, a boxer, said female boxers suffer the most because there are few female boxers in the country.
“This means sometimes we go for a tournament say in Kisumu, and after all the travel and accommodation expenses, you find that there is no opponent to fight with because they either failed to show up due to financial challenges or because there are no boxers of the category you are in,” Mbithe said.
The 52kg flyweight boxer said in gyms during training sessions, there are no changing rooms.
“You are forced to change in to your training gear in front of male boxers,” she said.
She said the limited gloves have to be shared among many boxers, increasing the risk of catching diseases.
Hamza Said, from Mjambere Boxing Club, said the lack of training facilities means sometimes they have to go for weeks without training.
“For instance, we train at the Mjambere secondary school. That is our gym. We use a classroom wit not even one boxing equipment.
“Recently, we have been stopped from training there until we seek fresh permission from the school management. That is the challenge we have. We have not trained for three weeks now,” Said said.
He said many youth boxers have quit because of the challenges.
