Stars Okoth and Ongare to lead Club Games squad

Nick Okoth in 60KG Light Weight category fight at Charter Hall during a three days Jamal Cup tournament ahead of the Africa Boxing Championships. Nov 20, 2021. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The 2015 Africa Boxing Championships lightweight winner Nick Okoth and Commonwealth Games flyweight bronze medalist Christine Ongare will lead the boxing team to the 22nd Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, that run on July 27 to August 8.

Okoth, who is the captain of the team, will be deputised by Africa Zone Three light heavyweight gold medalist Elizabeth Andiego.

Africa Zone Three bantamweight champion Hassan Shaffi Bakari is among the four boxers named by Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK).

“These are the boxers our technical bench selected for the Commonwealth Games. They have undergone an intense training under three coaches,” said BFK director of communications Duncan Kuria.

Deputy head coach David Munuhe said the four boxers selected stood out from the eight who were in residential training camp for four weeks.

“We picked the best. They have been trained well.

“Those ones who were dropped will act as sparring partners,” said Munuhe.

The four boxers dropped are Africa Zone three champions that include flyweight gold medalist David Karanja, bantamweight bronze medalist Amina Martha, middleweight bronze medalist Boniface Mogunde and featherweight boxer Isaac Meja.

“The four dropped are our sparring partners and will assist the four selected in training until we depart for the event,” he said.

Other members of the technical bench are head coach Musa Benjamin and assistant coach John Waweru while Albert Matito is the team manager. The four players selected for the games and those dropped have taken part in six international assignments for the last three years.