Boxing gains ground in Malindi as youth seek new opportunities

Amateur and professional boxers take part in a boxing tournament in Watamu, Kilifi County. [Nehemiah Okwembah, Standard]

Youth in Malindi Sub-County, Kilifi County, are increasingly embracing boxing, with stakeholders calling on both the national and county governments to invest in infrastructure to nurture talent and make the sport a sustainable source of income for young people.

Stakeholders, including the Kenya Boxing Federation (KBF), have launched monthly boxing tournaments to popularise the sport in the region, attract more youth, and steer them away from drug abuse and criminal activities.

Samson Mzungu, a boxing coach in Watamu said that the tournaments have been received well by budding boxers from the area with KFB pledging to support upcoming boxers from the area.

“The boxing sport in Kilifi County has not gotten the much-needed publicity and sponsorship needed to propel existing talents  and tap into budding one but we have teamed up with other stakeholders to ensure that we come up with ways that will endure the sports to authorities and local youth,” said Mzungu during a boxing tournament he organized at JJC restaurant.

He noted that many young people begin training but eventually abandon the sport due to limited opportunities.

“There’s talent that is going to waste here in Kilifi County, whereby we train these youths to show interest in the boxing sport but they get demoralized due to lack of opportunities and they drop out. Most of them are now bouncers in clubs and they get hired by politicians, especially to cause chaos or intimidate opponents,” he said.

Amateur and professional boxers take part in a boxing tournament in Watamu, Kilifi County. [Nehemiah Okwembah, Standard]

The Second Vice President of the Kenya Boxing Federation, Crispin Onyango, who moderated the tournament that brought together professional and amateur boxers from Malindi and Watamu, said both national and county governments should allocate more resources to boxing.

“People have the notion that boxers are people who do drugs but it is a professional sport that people out there are earning good money. We must change the narrative and the governments should invest more in sports and the Nairobi Senator has a motion in the senate that seeks to devolve sports funds to the counties,” he said.

Professional boxer Azad Nassir from Malindi said greater investment in sports, particularly boxing, could create employment opportunities for many young people.

“Boxing in Kilifi County is still low and we are here to promote it and what we need is more sponsorship and investment to pull the youth together,” he said.