Hit Squad gets ready for Africa Zone Three Boxing Championships

Kenya's middleweight gold medallist Elizabeth Andiego (in red) in action with two-time African champion Rady Adosalinda Gramane in the finals of Nelson Mandela Cup at Durban Convention Centre in Durban, on April 21, 2024. [File, Standard]

The national boxing team has started shaping up for the Africa Zone Three Boxing Championship to be hosted in Nairobi in October.

Players are training with their respective clubs across the country.

The one-and-a-half-week event will be staged at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) on October 15-25.

National coach Musa Benjamin said they'll use league matches to gauge some of the players expected to join the team.

Most of the boxers who take part in league matches are renowned and experienced.

The third leg of the national boxing league is scheduled for Madison Square Garden in Nakuru on September 18-20.

"Our league matches will be used to gauge our boxers before we come up with the final squad," he said.

Boxers training with their respective clubs are part of the provisional squad that has been undergoing rigorous training sessions under a panel of three coaches.

Benjamin told the boxers to step up their game when with their clubs.

The continental showpiece, which has so far attracted eight out of 14 member countries, will be used by 'The Hit Squad' to prepare for the World Men Boxing Championships to be held in November at a yet-to-be-confirmed venue.

On Saturday, Musa said all players have an equal chance of getting a national team call up. 

"All boxers have an equal chance of being selected into the national team if their performance satisfies the technical bench," he said.

In their last performance of the same competition (Africa Zone Three Championships) in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Kinshasa, Kenya finished runners-up behind hosts DRC, who won the overall title.

Kenya will field two teams as the hosting country, a tradition in the tournament.