Africa-Press – Kenya. Boxing Federation of Kenya communications director, Duncan Kuria, has predicted a vicious battle for the few Olympic slots up for grabs. Kenyan boxers from various clubs converged at Nairobi’s Charter Hall, as the search for appropriate personnel to fly the country’s flag began earnestly on Thursday.
“The fight for Olympic qualifiers tickets at Charter Hall in Nairobi is going to be very tough,” Kuria said. Kuria pointed out that the organisers had removed some weight categories, making qualification extremely difficult.
Whereas the men’s weights have been sliced off to seven from the usual 13, the women’s categories have been set at six, with middleweight being the highest weight. “Raw is war. From 13 weights to seven. Many will be competing in new weights for the 1st time,” Kuria said.
“Only boxers above the intermediate level and are in the Olympic weights will be allowed to participate,” Kuria added.
The three-day tournament opened its doors as both male and female fighters traded heavy blows in the tightly-contested preliminary rounds. This was after boxers underwent medical examinations and a weigh-in session.
This is the first competitive activity that BFK has rolled out in the country ever since the men’s Hit Squad team returned home after gracing the IBA World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan between April 30 to May 14, 2023.
The national boxing team had pitched camp at the Mathare Depot in Nairobi to sharpen their talons for the upcoming Africa Boxing Championships in Yaounde, Cameroon but later withdrew owing to a dearth of funds.
Head coach Benjamin Musa expressed regrets, saying they had failed to secure the necessary funding from the government. BFK secretary general, Dave Munuhe, however, emerged a week later to express hope that the team might attend the Africa showpiece.
Munuhe said they have received news from the continental boxing governing body informing them that the championships had been postponed to August. The tournament had initially been scheduled to run between June 20-25.
But with the team’s participation in the annual tournament still hanging in the balance, Kuria has moved to assure local boxing enthusiasts that Hit Squad will battle in the Olympic qualifiers slated for Senegal.
“Our focus is now set on the Olympic Qualifiers set for Dakar, Senegal in August. We plan to travel to the country for the qualifiers,” Kuria said.
The team will have to go through the continental path after the International Olympics Committee opted to ban the International Boxing Association from holding international Olympic qualifiers events.
Local pugilists have struggled to assert authority on the international stage ever since Robert Wangila won Kenya’s only gold medal at the 1988 Olympics, with Christopher Sande winning the bronze that same year.
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