Napunyis: The boxing family behind Kenya's ring legends

The late Kenyan boxer Robert Wangila. (Courtesy)

On July 19, 2008, Anthony Napunyi walked into the boxing ring at Wab Hotel in Buru Buru. He was going to fight Tanzanian Antony Matheus in a superbantam weight duel. The Kenya Prisons boxer was continuing with a family story that was began by his father Modest Oduori Napunyi aka Yushin-Napunyi. Olympic gold medalist Robert Wangila is a cousin of Modest who was described by a newspaper back in the early 1980s as “the technician”.

Robert Wangila, who got the name “Napunyi” from Modest, is remembered more for winning an Olympic gold in Seoul in 1988 than his cousin Modest. Just like his name, Modest’s achievements in the ring for Kenya as a professional boxer is always downplayed. Despite not winning a major international title, Modest had a sterling career between 1975 and 1992.

In his professional career, he fought 22 fights and won 15. Modest was born in Nairobi in 1957 as the second born in a family of 12 children. He grew up in Jericho Estate to the east of Nairobi in the days when everyone knew everyone in the estate. He began his boxing journey early and by the age of 18 in 1975, he had joined the amateur ranks. He fought in the featherweight category as an amateur but jumped to superbantam when he turned professional.

Despite being a decent fighter, Modest never won a gold medal in his career but had a successful professional career.

His influence of Robert, whom they lived with in the same estate, cannot be under-estimated. He made his debut to the Hit-Squad, the national boxing team, in 1975 when Robert Wangila was under the age of 10. He featured in the 1975 Brunner Urafiki tournament between Kenya and Uganda where his prowess in the ring was confirmed despite being a teenager. As Robert grew up, he emulated his cousin by going into boxing where he also picked his middle name. 

Modest had a very successful professional career in the 1980s. He won the Japanese featherweight title, East & Central African Professional Boxing Federation super bantamweight title, African Boxing Union (ABU) super bantamweight title, ABU featherweight title, and Commonwealth featherweight title.

At the World Amateur Boxing Championship in Belgrade Yuguslavia in 1978, Stephen Muchoki beat light flyweight defending world champion George Hernandez of Cuba to win a gold medal. Modest lost his bantamweight bout at quarterfinals narrowly to Korean Chung Kim Chil.  The same year, he went to Edmonton, Canada, for the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He lost at the quarter-final stage at the Commonwealth Games to Canadian Guy Boutin on points.

At the 1978 All African Games in Algiers, Modest reached the finals of featherweight battle against Azumah Nelson of Ghana. He lost the bout to take silver. Kenya brought home seven medals from boxing, two gold medals, four silver and one bronze. He was not part of the Hit-Squad at the 4TH All African Games in Nairobi where his cousin burst into the scene with a gold medal. It was a change of era for the family.

Modest was voted the best boxer at the 1981 King’s Cup in Bangkok, Thailand. The same year, he turned professional and fought in several weights from superbantam to super featherweight. His won his first bout as a professional against Japanese Fusao Imai in Tokyo, Japan, in September 1981. On July 2, 1982, he won the super bantamweight title in the East & Central African Professional Boxing Federation fights in Nairobi. He defeated Tanzanian Onesmo Ngowi by a knock out in the third round.

On May 2, 1983, Modest won the African Boxing Union Super Bantamweight title after defeating Nigerian Simom Peter McIntosh in Nairobi. He defended the African title in Burundi the following year where he won his bout by knocking out his opponent.

He then defeated Ugandan Cuban Businge in December 1983 to retained his East & Central African Professional Boxing Federation Super Bantamweight title in Nairobi. He lost his African Boxing Union Super Bantamweight title to Zambian John Sichula in May 1985 in Lusaka, Zambia.

In 1988, he lost the East & Central African Professional Boxing Federation Super Bantamweight title to Tanzanian Hamisi Kimanga in Dar-es-Salaam but recaptured it later the same year in Nakuru. He knocked out Kimanga in the sixth round. On Jan 28, 1990, he went on to beat Ghanian Percy Commey in Nairobi and regained his African Featherweight title which was also an African Boxing Union Featherweight title.

His most famous fight was the Commonwealth Featherweight Title fight in April 1991 against Brighton Francis of Canada in Toronto. He lost the 12-round fight on points.

His last professional bout was in November 1992 against South African boxer November Ntshingila in Johannesburg which he lost.

He died in December 2002 and was buried in his Busia home.  Anthony, one of his six children, embraced boxing and turned professional based in Florida, USA, in 2013.