Boxing League title is Police's to lose

Kenya's Boniface Mogunde and Alex Kanabi of Uganda in Men Light middle weight 67-71kg category during Africa Zone 3 Boxing Championship at Moi International Sports Center Gymnasium. Oct 22, 2025. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

The National Boxing League title is for record Kenyan champions Kenya Police to lose as the final leg of the league championships boxes off in Kisumu this afternoon.

The policemen lead the table standings with 60 points, 13 ahead of the defending champions, Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), who all lost it by virtue of missing the first leg in Busia early this year.

The Kisumu championships could be a formality in favour of the policemen, as the soldiers have a herculean task to close the gap of the points’ difference between them and their arch rivals from the history of their points’ winning margins in the last three legs in Mombasa, Nakuru and Nanyuki.

In the past, the two teams have beaten each other by only three points in each of the three legs, and chances of registering a big difference could be nil even in the lakeside city.

However, KDF had put in a gallant performance in the last three legs and were unable to stretch the winning margin to be over five points in the two legs they won in Nakuru and Nanyuki, a development that could have made it easier to retain the title for the second consecutive year in Kisumu.

KDF, who are second with 47 points in the table standings, must pray that their full squad of 13 boxers win all their final bouts in all weight categories and hope most policemen fall in their quarterfinal bouts if they are to easily retain the title.

The policemen are fully aware of their mathematical chance of winning the title back, which equally eluded them last year after missing two legs of the league championships.

“We are back in this thing again, and we’ll try our best so that we don’t disappoint,” said policeman and Africa light middleweight champion Boniface Mogunde.

Mogunde, who is one of the most experienced boxers in the law enforcers’ squad, sees nothing can stop them from wrestling back the Jamal Cup to their fold.

“We have all arsenal in our armoury, and nothing will stop us from firing enough bullets from our guns,” said the soft-spoken boxer.

However, Africa Games middleweight champion Edwin Okong’o, who boxes for KDF, has a totally different opinion in the race for top honours.

He said they still have an open chance if their team maintain the winning streak that has seen them win the last two legs of the league championships in Nakuru and Nanyuki. [Ben Ahenda]