{"id":160369,"date":"2026-04-15T15:35:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push"},"modified":"2026-04-15T16:51:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T16:51:24","slug":"zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push","title":{"rendered":"Zarika targets Hill rematch in final career push"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. <\/strong> <\/span>Fatuma Zarika is focused on securing a rematch with Kirsty Hill as she enters the final phase of her career. The 41-year-old is seeking another shot at the Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC) Super Featherweight title, which she lost to Hill in a split decision in May 2024 in Blackpool.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am still pushing for that second fight because it was part of the agreement, and I haven\u2019t seen it honoured,\u201d Zarika said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat chapter cannot close the way it did.\u201d Zarika maintains she did enough to win the bout, which remains one of the more disputed decisions in recent women\u2019s boxing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI stepped into that ring, did my job, and believed I had done enough to win,\u201d she said. \u201cEven people around the fight acknowledged it didn\u2019t feel right.\u201d Despite the setback, Zarika has remained active. On April 3, she stopped Tanzania\u2019s Flora Machela in the eighth round at a SportPesa Boxing Night event in Nairobi. \u201cI needed that comeback to prove I still have it in me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t just about winning\u2014it was about showing I can still dominate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The victory added to a professional record that includes more than 30 wins and 20 knockouts. Zarika, Kenya\u2019s first World Boxing Council female world champion, won the title in 2016 and defended it until 2019. She later moved up in weight and continued competing internationally. \u201cWhen I won the world title, it was bigger than me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt showed that a girl from Nairobi could compete on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She says experience and preparation remain key as she continues to compete. \u201cIt\u2019s not about how old you are, it\u2019s about how well you prepare,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I train right, I can still compete with anyone.\u201d Her priority remains a rematch with Hill to resolve the 2024 result. \u201cI want that rematch because I know I can settle it properly in the ring,\u201d Zarika said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want doubts\u2014I want a clear ending,\u201d Zarika says. She hopes to conclude her career on her own terms. \u201cI am not done yet\u2014I still want to leave the sport as a champion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Kenya<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Kenya. Fatuma Zarika is focused on securing a rematch with Kirsty Hill as she enters the final phase of her career. The 41-year-old is seeking another shot at the Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC) Super Featherweight title, which she lost to Hill in a split decision in May 2024 in Blackpool. \u201cI am still [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":160368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[544],"class_list":["post-160369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-kenya"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Zarika targets Hill rematch in final career push - kenya<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Kenya. 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Fatuma Zarika is focused on secur ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"kenya\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T15:35:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-15T16:51:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776271776.441862.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1484\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"835\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Zarika targets Hill rematch in final career push\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T15:35:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-15T16:51:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push\"},\"wordCount\":383,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776271776.441862.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Kenya\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push\",\"name\":\"Zarika targets Hill rematch in final career push - kenya\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/all-news\/zarika-targets-hill-rematch-in-final-career-push#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/kenya\/sites\/28\/2026\/04\/sm_1776271776.441862.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-15T15:35:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-15T16:51:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/kenya\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Kenya. 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