As 2017 poll line-up takes shape, we must avoid pitfalls

Henry Munene

By the time you read this, billions of eyes – from the sin city of Las Vegas to a dusty town called Ingolomosio in Kakamega County – will be itching to watch tomorrow’s ‘boxing duel of the century’ between Manny Pacquiao and the seemingly self-absorbed Floyd Mayweather Jr. The news filtering in this past week has been that the world has descended on Las Vegas, mostly in spirit. I’m told there are hordes who, unable or unwilling to pay the prohibitive ticket price to watch the bout live, have flown into Vegas and booked every inch of hotel and strip-joint space to watch the epic duel in the heart of high-end casinos and playboy lifestyles.

The already cash-soaked city is attracting dollars like a magnet. I’ll expect Mayweather to waste the man from the Philippines in an unforgettable fashion, that is unless the bravura he (Mayweather) has been strutting goes to his head. I’ll also hope for a fair, may-the-best man win kind of bout. No biting of ears as happened in June 1997 when Mike Tyson, who is backing Pacquiao, deployed his teeth on one of Hollander Holyfield’s hearing organs. And as the drums of boxing roll on in Vegas, another duel is shaping up locally. The Opposition launched the Okoa Kenya initiative, to rally the country behind its referendum which, among other things, seeks more funds for the counties.