Police reign in boxing: Prisons, KDF flop in hunt for Yamashita trophy

By Ben Ahenda

Champions Kenya Police retained the National Boxing League title for the seventh year in a row after dominating the fifth and final leg of the competition at Madison Square Garden in Nakuru over the weekend.

The policemen, who had placed eight boxers in the finals, saw five of their pugillists win their bouts to collect a total of 22 points and emerge as the best club in the fifth leg of the league. This helped them retain the title with 112 points.

Boxing Association of Kenya President John Kameta handed over the giant Yamashita Trophy to the Kenya Police captain Peter Mungai amid ululations from fans that jammed the boxing auditorium.

“It has been a tough season and it did not come on a silver platter. However, winning the title with no cash incentives is bad for the sport. The federation should come up with ways of awarding cash prizes to the best boxers,” said Mungai.

Kameta confirmed he is shopping for sponsors to boost their efforts and called on the government to help them out.

Kenya Prisons, who earlier posed a big threat to the policemen, finished the fifth leg as runners-up with 14 points followed by hosts Nakuru, Coast and Kenyatta National Hospital all tied on six points apiece.

Kisumu and Nairobi Metropolitan tied on four points, Central had one point while Administration Police trailed without any points.

In the overall rankings,  Prisons finished runners-up behind Police  with 92 points followed by Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) on 62 points, Coast 30, Kisumu 26, Nakuru 23, Kenyatta National Hospital and Nairobi Metropolitan had 14. Administration Police and Central trailed the ten-team log with three points each.

The five out of the eight policemen who won their bouts in the finals were Peter Mungai in the flyweight, Martin Oduor (bantam), Silas Masake (welter), Charles Okoth (heavy) and Peter Opudi (super-heavy).

Mungai knocked out Issa Mwangi of Nairobi Metropolitan, Oduor defeated Ethan Mwangi of KNH on points, Masake dismissed Jacob Kimathi of Prisons 3-0, Okoth thumped Anthony Oduor of Kisumu forcing the referee to stop the contest in the first round while Opudi forced Peter Mwangi of Prisons to throw in the towel in the first round.

The three policemen who lost were Joseph Shigali in the lightweight, David Njuguna (middle) and Elly Ajowi in the light heavy.

Shigali was beaten 2-1 by Joseph Njogu of Prisons, Njuguna lost 3-0 to upcoming Patrick Maina of Nakuru while Ajowi lost 3-0 to Olympian Aziz Ali of Prisons.

Matayo Keya of KNH started off well by knocking out Abednego Kyalo of Nairobi Metropolitan.— bahenda@standardmedia.co.ke