Okwiri ready to go past Tanzanian Piallari

Kenya's Rayton Nduku Okwiri (R) celebrates winning against Russia's Andrei Zamkovoi (L) during the Men's Welter (69kg) boxing match at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Riocentro - Pavilion 6 in Rio de Janeiro on August 7, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Yuri CORTEZ

Professional super welterweight boxer Rayton Okwiri is confident of beating Tanzanian Iddi Piallari in his first fight in the paid ranks.

Okwiri decamped from the defunct semiprofessional Amateur Professional Boxing (APB) Championships only last month.

Piallari was expected in Nairobi last evening from Dar es Salaam.

The match will be hosted at Crown Plaza in Nairobi tomorrow from 2pm. Okwiri’s coach Julius Odhiambo said weighing in and medical check-ups would be conducted this morning at the same venue.

“We expect the two boxers to undergo medical check-ups and weighing in and other necessary procedures ahead of the fight tomorrow to ensure both of them are fully fit for the epic match,” he stated.

Okwiri said he is fully fit to showcase his talent against the Tanzanian but he is not disturbed by the record of the experienced Piallari who will be entering the ring for the tenth time since turning fully professional two years back.

Piallari has had nine fights, winning eight and losing once according to Odhiambo.

The fight has been sanctioned by Kenya Professional Boxing Commission (KPBC) under the auspices of World Boxing Association (WBA).

“I’m ready for the epic match as I have trained well in the previous weeks and my fitness levels have improved since turning professional under my new coach. Sky is the limit,” Okwiri told Feverpitch in an exclusive interview.

Okwiri’s last international assignment as an amateur boxer was at the Rio Olympics last year where he failed to reach the knockout stages of the welterweight matches..

Odhiambo said his boxer was in a perfect condition after undergoing all the basic and advanced training for a professional match, which has inspired him (Okwiri) to be in a stable state of mind in order to outwit his opponent.

Asked how much Okwiri would take home, Odhiambo refused to reveal the pay package of the former National Amateur bantamweight champion but only said “he will be lucratively paid. He’ll earn better than before either as an amateur or APB boxer”.

However, he revealed the training allowances for the boxer, which is fixed at $1,500 per month (roughly Sh150, 000).

Under KPBC, Okwiri would be in a position to face opponents from United Kingdom, Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania and Ghana.

Before turning professional, he (Okwiri) was ranked fourth in the welterweight in the APB championships by the world boxing governing body, AIBA.