Lessons learnt from the East Africa Boxing Championships

Kenya's Africa middleweight champion Rayton Okwiri (right) in action against Columbia's Fidel Munoz in their bout on Saturday. [Courtesy, Nenez Media Services]

As Kenya prepares her quest for the World Women Boxing Championships and Commonwealth Games, there is a need to involve the National Boxing Team in several invitational international championships.

The tournaments are meant to give the boxers exposure, confidence and experience according to national head coach Musa Benjamin.

”Experience is never achieved at home but against foreign boxers from different countries and that is exactly what we are doing,” Benjamin told Standard Sports.

And the first of such events where Kenya reigned supreme was the East Africa Club Boxing Championships that ended at Manyara Social Hall in Kinondoni, Dar Es Salaam over the weekend.

Kenya sent two teams to the regional club championship in league champions Kenya Police and Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) Select side who emerged victorious by winning eight gold medals, two silver and one bronze medals.

Benjamin lauded the tournament saying it had given all boxers who took part in great lessons as all that a coach need is for his boxers to gain experience.

”We need any kind of exposure for these boxers if we are to offer an effective and formidable performance at the many international championships facing us ahead this season,” explained Benjamin.

The first international tournament coming over after the event is the Africa Zone Three Boxing Championships slated for Benjamin Mkapa Indoor Stadium in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania from March 27 to April 3 before they head to Tunisia for Africa Boxing Championships in April.

Thereafter, World Women Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Turkey will follow in May and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England in July.

Most of the boxers who went to Dar Es Salaam are national team members and those who were recently capped for the first time.