Battered Kenyan boxers apologise for horror show at World Championships
Kenya's Joseph Shigali at the AIBA World Championships in Serbia.
What you need to know:
- Ten out of 13 boxers that Kenya entered at the biennial event have already lost their first fights.
Boxer Martin Oduor Aluoch has apologised to Kenyans after exiting the 2021 AIBA Men’s World Championships at the first time of asking at Stark Arena in Belgrade, Serbia on Thursday.
Ten out of 13 boxers that Kenya entered at the biennial event have already lost their first fights.
These include Aluoch (Featherweight), Elly Ajowi (Super Heavyweight), Nicholas Okoth (Lightweight), Boniface Mogunde (Light Middleweight), David Karanja (Flyweight), Victor Odhiambo (Light Welterweight), George Cosby Ouma (Light Heavyweight), Joshua Wasike (Heavyweight), Hezron Sabat (Cruiserweight) and Joseph Shigali (Welterweight).
Kenya’s hopes of a win now rests on the three remaining boxers Shaffi Bakari Hassan, Edwin Okong’o and Maurice Maina. Bakari will take to the ring on Friday afternoon against Muhammet Sacli in bantamweight.
Okong’o will exchange blows with Suliman Aslami in middleweight on Saturday, the same day Maina slugs out with Belarussian Yauheni Karmilchyk in Minimumweight.
Speaking after losing 5-0 to DR Congo's Nathan Lunata on Thursday, Aluoch said: “I thank God for enabling me to play well. This fight wasn’t easy the way people might think. This is a world championship. No person has come here as a tourist."
"Everybody has prepared well. We have fought to our level best but I ask Kenyans for forgiveness. I thought I would hand Kenya its first win. However, I thank God for everything.”
Aluoch attributed his loss to a slow start.
“Our major undoing has been in round one. We need to work on our round one when we get back home because this is where we are losing our fights. Our opponents start very strongly in the first round and slow a bit in the second when they are leading. This is a mistake that I believe can be corrected.”
Ajowi, 38, who competed at the 2009 and 2013 world championships and was recently at the Tokyo Olympic Games, also noted he lost against Jakhon Qurbonov (Tajikistan) 4-1 because he had a bad round one.
“It is where I lost this fight. I believe things would have been different had I started with full force. The way I started in the first round really messed me up. This is what gave my opponent an advantage. My opponent had power and was very clever too.”
Okoth, 38, who competed at the 2008 and 2020 Olympics and 2009 and 2017 World Championships, said that things in the ring did not turn out as expected.
Stephen Muchoki remains Kenya’s only medallist at the World Boxing Championships. He won silver at 1974 Havana after losing against Cuban Jorge Hernandez in the light flyweight final.
Muchoki struck gold after getting his revenge on Hernandez in the next edition in Belgrade in 1978.
