Factors that made KDF win National Boxing League title after five years

From the word go, Kenya Defence Forces were out to win the National Boxing League title.

Despite defending champions Kenya Police having missed three legs of the league championships and former champions Kenya Prisons two, the soldiers were in a class of their own.

In all legs of the league championships, they (KDF) emerged tops save for one the policemen won in Mombasa but the points difference was small.

KDF won four of the five legs in Vihiga, Kisumu, Nanyuki and Homa Bay to stamp their authority in the local scene and other competitions in the continental and globally.

In overall standings after the Homa Bay championships, the soldiers won with 126 points ahead of the policemen who posted 46 points tying with the Nairobi County Boxing team.

Kenya Prisons were fourth with 35 points ahead KIbra 23, Kisumu 17, Nakuru ABC 16, Vihiga 16, Siaya 16 and Homa Bay 14 points as the top ten teams in the league championships.

“We had planned well from the initial stages of the league championships in local and other global championships,” said KDF chairman Paul Mung’ori.

“Failing to plan is like planning to fail. We planned well in all local and international assignments we featured in. But we cannot fail to recognize efforts of Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) in taking the sport to the grassroots (Ndondi Mashinani). And that’s why we’re here in Homa Bay,” Mung’ori told Standard Sports.

For the first time in seven years, the National Boxing Team won the first gold medal in Africa Boxing Championships in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, which KDF captain Edwin Okong’o lifted in the middleweight.

The last gold medal in the continental championships was won by former national captain Nick ‘Commander’ Okoth in the lightweight in 2017 in Congo Brazzaville who’s a cousin to Okong’o.

“Like I said, we have been good and we are good and our focus is to retain the title next year,” added Mung’ori.

The KDF team also featured in the second edition of the Africa Military Games in Abuja, Nigeria reaping four gold and one silver medal from the five boxers who travelled to the West African capital.

KDF was the best boxing team in East Africa and finished among the best five in Africa.

The four gold medallists were Okong’o, flyweight Kevin Maina, bantamweight Dennis Muthama and welterweight Friza Anyango while the silver medallist was flyweight Veronica Mbithe.