Africa-Press – Kenya. Light middleweight pugilist Boniface Mugunde has fired a warning shot to his competitors, saying he will not let them scuttle his plans of gracing the forthcoming Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
In an exclusive interview with the Star on Wednesday, the National Police Service constable said he will continue punching furiously on the bag to amass sufficient ammunition for a podium finish, adding he is confident of bagging the coveted ticket.
Mugune gained some traction at the just concluded President Jamal Boxing Championships at Charter Hall after pulverising Stephen Olang of Nairobi on unanimous points decision.
He intends to pull off a similar performance in the second edition of the tournament in Kisumu in a fortnight, in the hope that coach Benjamin Musa will hand him a call-up to the provisional squad later.
“I was happy with my performance at Jamal Cup. I believe I’m well on my way towards securing the ticket to Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games in July,” said Mugunde.
Mugune said he gathered some invaluable lessons at the AIBA World Boxing Championships in Belgrade and will employ the expertise to outmaneuver his opponents as he frantically gropes for a maiden Commonwealth appearance.
The boxer was forced to espouse a major heartbreak in Serbia where he crashed early in the competition. He poked holes in the judge’s decision after suffering a unanimous points defeat to Albanian Brqiri Alban in the round of 64 preliminary stage.
“It’s hard to believe how judges scored it. But God above all,” said Mugunde after his loss.
“The judges shortchanged us in Belgrade because they failed to let us in on the slight changes the organisers had introduced. We came to realise much later that we could have easily scored points simply by tapping as opposed to punching hard,” said Mugunde.
“So all our opponents did was to tap into the target as we expended excess and unnecessary energy in the process,” he added.
But all that is now water under the bridge and Mugunde has once again rolled up his sleeves to claim his rightful place on the global stage.
The veteran pugilist, who has donned the national team attire at various major competitions has asked budding boxers to work harder, saying he noticed they still have a long way to go.
“During the Jamal Cup, the new breed of boxers looked so stiff and appeared to believe in punching hard to win bouts. They need to train more to be flexible and agile and should make an effort to learn the new boxing techniques if they expect to succeed in the sport,” said Mugune.
“The quicker and earlier they do so, the better… given most of us in Hit Squad are in our sunset years,” he said.
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