Eight Kenyan boxers into African Boxing Championships finals

Veronica Mbithe, Grace Atieno, Rosemarion Otieno, Elizabeth Akinyi, Friza Asiko, Juliet Opondo, Kelvin Maina and Clinton Macharia will carry Kenya’s medal hopes as the home team seeks to crown its campaign with gold medals in front of the home fans.

Mbithe will face Fatiha Mansouri of Algeria in the women’s Flyweight category while Atieno will compete in the women’s minimumweight category against Tanzania’s Veronica Mapunda. Rosemarion will battle it out against Algeria’s Ichrak Chaib in the women’s lightweight division.

Elizabeth Akinyi will take on Nigeria’s Blessing Orakyue in the women’s light heavyweight,while Frizah Asiko will have work to do against Egyptian Hamza Tia while Juliet Opondo takes on Rachel Msengi in the women’s heavyweight final.

On the mens side Kelvin Maina faces Angola’s Loureiro Ferreira Martinho in the men’s flyweight division while Super heavyweight Clinton Macharia will also be in contention for gold when he faces Algeria’s Sid Ahmed Moussaoui in the men’s over-90-kilogrammes super heavy weight category.

Yesterday during Day 5 semi’s, Veronica Mbithe outclassed Uganda's Muuwa Brenda with a 5-0 unanimous decision while Rosemarion Achieng put on a tactical masterclass against Egypt's Mohammed Rahma, taking another 5-0 win and sending the Kasarani crowd to its feet.

Kelvin Maina completed the perfect run for the day, defeating Israel Mbaga of Equatorial Guinea with a composed, intelligent performance to seal the third final place for Kenya.

Edwin Okong'o (71-75kg), Steve Onyango (67-71kg), Kenya’s captain Boniface Mogunde (67-71kg), Chrispine Ochanda (75-80kg), and Peter Abuti (86-92kg) bowed out against elite opponents from Egypt, Seychelles, Rwanda and Algeria in the championship that involved 15 nations and over 150 boxers.

The finals programme, scheduled to begin at 1:30 pm, features 20 bouts across the men’s and women’s weight categories, promising an afternoon of intense competition as Africa’s boxing champions are crowned in Nairobi.