Mixed results for top boxers as Police, KDF lead after first leg

Edwin Okong'o (blue) fights Steve Onyango of Kenya Police during a middleweight bout at Old Town Hall in Nakuru, May 15, 2026.  [Ben Ahenda, Standard] 

Defending champions Kenya Police and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have taken an early lead after the first leg of the National Boxing League in Nakuru.

The policemen and the soldiers are tied on 22 at the end of the league championships held at Old Town Hall over the weekend.

Sombea Boxing Club, Nakuru’s newest kid on the block, finished third with 10 points to the chagrin of their opponents in the well officiated matches as the county starts to take its position in the past Kenya’s boxing trend. 

Nairobi County came in third with nine points, ahead of Kenya Prisons on seven, Nakuru ABC seven, Kasarani Youth six, Kobra Youth four, while Dallas Muthurwa, Meru and Kisumu Counties tied on a point each. 

Brian Mathias Boxing Club of Mombasa, Githurai 44, Kongowea and Kajiado, Mombasa and Laikipia Counties all finished with no points. 

While making a comeback after reaching the quarter-finals of the World Boxing Championships last year, national heavyweight champion Robert Okaka stopped policeman George Cosby on a Referee Stop Contest (RSC) in the first round. 

“It was a tough match, but I gave it my all despite the fact we couldn’t go full length,” Okaka told Standard Sports in a post-match interview. 

And some of the big names who fell in the finals are the policemen trio of national minimumweight champion Silas Onyango, bantamweight Shaffi Bakari, and featherweight Mwinyi Kombo, and Kenya Prisons light welterweight Alloice Vincent. 

Onyango was beaten by Nakuru ABC’s Joseph Moses 4-3, Kombo suffered at the hands of Chris Juma of Kasarani Youth 5-0 and Vincent fell to Ayub Waweru of Sombea on a split points’ decision, all being final matches save for the one of Bakari. 

Bakari was beaten in the semi-finals by Dennis Muthama in the sixth meeting, which the latter had won four times.  In the bantamweight finals, Muthama silenced Chris Musyoki of Kenya Prisons, whose match was abandoned in the second round. 

“We came here for serious business and this is the way to go until the end of the league championships,” Muthama said. 

Experienced internationals light middleweight Boniface Mogunde, middleweight Edwin Okong’o, cruiserweight Chris Ochanda and super heavyweight Clinton Macharia won their matches with ease. 

Mogunde, who is the Africa Boxing Championships light middleweight champion, defeated Maxwell Michael of Sombea on RSC Round Two as Okong’o stopped Ken Omollo of Kobra 5-0. Okong’o is the reigning All-Africa Games middleweight champion.

Ochanda beat Humphrey ‘Jakababa’ Ochieng’ of Kenya Police 5-0 while Macharia’s match against Joseph Sagali of Sombea was stopped in the third round on RSC. 

In the women's matches, the duo of KDF internationals, flyweight Veronica Mbithe and welterweight Lencer Akinyi, won. Mbithe defeated Joyce Nyaga of Nairobi as Akinyi smashed Winny Shishali in the first round. 

International Sylvia Obwamu of Nairobi also beat Doreen Kituyi on abandonment in Round Two.