By FEVERPITCH REPORTER
A boxing tournament to remember former national heavyweight champion Harold Obunga has been organised.
The upcoming tournament will be held on Saturday at the Kaloleni Social Hall from 1pm, where Obunga honed his boxing skills.
The match will feature the Kedafa team against Nairobi Combined.
The late Obunga, who was fondly known as “Shetza” died in a tragic road accident in Makindu on September 16, 1995.
He was an established heavyweight boxer who turned out for the dreaded boxing club Kaloleni in the mid-80s.
He also represented the national boxing team, famously known as the “The Hit Squad” during his career, the highlights of which included the 1987 All Africa Games.
He was also selected for the 1986 Commonwealth Games, which were boycotted by Kenya.
Obunga was a quarter finalist at the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea
Role model
“As a role model in his hey days, the committee thus intends to use this annual memorial tournament as an outreach programme to sensitise the youth on the importance of sports in promoting a healthy lifestyle, self- discipline, the fight against drug abuse and runaway crime .
The above issues are prevalent among the youth in Kaloleni estate, where “Shetza” grew up and in the Eastlands area of Nairobi,” said a statement signed by his sister Geno Obunga.
The event has been sanctioned by the ABA Nairobi branch.
The committee has invited guest speakers amongst them former successful sports personalties and motivational speakers on topical issues outlined above to reach out to the youth.
The event is organised by the Harold Obunga Foundation. Meanwhile, Tommy Morrison, a former heavyweight champion who gained fame for his role in the movie “Rocky V,” has died. He was 44.
Morrison died on Sunday night at a Nebraska hospital, said Tony Holden, his longtime promoter and close friend. The family would not disclose the cause of death.
In 1993, Morrison beat Foreman to win the WBO heavyweight title, only to lose it to unheralded Michael Bentt in a defeat that scuttled a showdown with Lewis. Morrison would fight Lewis a couple of years later, getting knocked out in the sixth round in Atlantic City.
