Africa-Press – Kenya. Former African Boxing Union super middleweight champion Rayton ‘Boom Boom’ Okwiri says he is unfazed after losing the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior middleweight title on Thursday.
The veteran Kenyan pugilist crashed to Emmany “General” Kalombo of the Democratic Republic of Congo in their 12-round bout in Sandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng.
“I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. No matter the injury, I’m going to be the same boxer I’ve always been. I’ll figure it out. I’ll make some tweaks, some changes, but I’m still coming,” Okwiri said.
Kalombo, who romped home by TKO in Round eight after Okwiri sustained an injury on a right-hand finger, extolled his opponent for putting up a gallant fight.
“I want to thank my lord and saviour Jesus Christ for giving me this opportunity to be a world champion. I am very happy and grateful because it was a great experience. It’s not easy to fight a southpaw boxer because they have that awkward style of movement. The most important thing was to win,” said Kalombo.
Heading into the bout, Kalombo had pulverized Malawi’s Chikondi Makawa by TKO in the third round of their bout held in Soweto last year.
The outcome leaves Okwiri at 7-1-1. He had pledged to give his all in the fight ahead of the big day.
“When I started boxing, there was a time when I said one day I want to go to the Olympics. I went to the Olympics,” wrote Okwiri in his social media post.
“When I started boxing, I said one day I want to be an African champion. Yes, I became an African champion, because I beat some good boxers.
“Now that I’ve got this opportunity, I am going to prove to the world that I am still there. I remember in 2014, I was one of the best boxers in the world in IBA Boxing. I’m still the same.”
Okwiri, 36, rose to the limelight after representing Kenya at the Rio 2016 Olympics. A year later, he turned professional and won his maiden fight in Brazil against Russian Andrey Zamkovoy, before losing his second bout against Morocco’s Mohammed Rabii.
His last fight was in October 2021 when he knocked out John Serunjogu of Uganda in a middleweight non-title fight held in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania.
The Kenya Prisons officer had prepared well for Thursday’s bout given he spent time training in the USA alongside American multiple title holder Demetrius Cesar Andrade.
Andrade has held the WBO middleweight title since 2018 and previously boasted the WBA (Regular) and WBO light middleweight titles between 2013 and 2017.
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