Former international decries falling standards of boxing in Kenya

Nairobi, Aug 17 (IANS) A former Kenyan international boxer on Thursday decried the falling standards of the game in the East African nation, saying the former boxing powerhouse ought to go back to the drawing board to arrest the decline.

Samuel Otieno, 55, who played for Kenya's national team christened "Hit Squad" during the country's glory days in the sport, told Xinhua here that attempts should be made to broaden the national league to include as many boxers as possible.

"Currently, there are only three teams playing in the national league. This has locked out many boxers from the game and in the process leaving only a handful of pugilists to ply their trade in the sport," Otieno, who retired in the welterweight category lamented.

Presently, there are only three clubs from the county's disciplined forces of the Kenya Police Service, Kenya Prisons Service and Kenya Defence Forces that have been left to compete among themselves in the national league.

Kenya's decline in boxing started in the 1980s after several state corporations that sponsored boxing clubs folded the outfits owing to structural adjustment programs, leaving only the three aforementioned clubs in existence because their employers are capable of funding them.

Prior to that, Kenya had a fearsome boxing team that competed with the best and won titles at major international competitions.

"Mismanagement of boxing and biased national team selection criteria have been the malaise that saw the standards of the game plunge to low depths locally. Currently I train young and upcoming boxers but I worry for their boxing future if more clubs do not come up and if they don't join the disciplined forces," Otieno said.

During Kenya's golden era between 1960 and 1980, the country won eight gold medals at the All Africa Games held in Nairobi in 1987 and enjoyed further success the following year when Robert Wangila became the first ever African boxer to win an Olympic gold medal.

Otieno said gone are the days when Kenyans took great pride in the success their boxers enjoyed on the international scene, adding that boxing at the domestic level at present goes unnoticed since the standards stagnated.

He sent a plea to the national officials of the Boxing Association of Kenya (BAK) to honour retired international boxers, "not only the four or five that are always acknowledged because there are many out there."

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