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Decimated Kenya's Hit Squad among nations to grace Africa Elite Boxing Championships
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Reading Time: 2min | Thu. 03.10.24. | 21:04
The team is expected to jet out of the country on Sunday 13 October
Kenya’s national boxing team -Hit Squad - will be among 31 countries that have so far confirmed participation in this year’s Africa Elite Boxing Championships taking place from Monday 14 to Sunday 27 October in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
This comes as a total of 20 Kenyan boxers - 12 men and eight women - are in team non-residential camp at the Mathare Police Depot, where they are sharpening their arsenals ahead of the championships primed to attract top pugilists across the continent.
Among the champions expected in Kinshasa include: Khadija Mardi, Rady Gramane, Pita Khabeji, and Alcinda Dos Santos.
It is understood that the final Kenyan squad traveling on Sunday 13 October will be released latest Tuesday of next week.
KDF recalls top boxers
Boxing Federation of Kenya Communications Director Duncan Kuria has however noted that preparations for the championships have been hampered by Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) recalling some of their boxers from the Hit Squad training camp.
As per Kuria, KDF has taken the decision to shelve the boxers for an upcoming Africa Military Games Championships scheduled for November.
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“It's really unfortunate because some of the boxers there were seriously being considered to travel, and they have now lost valuable slots,” a devastated Kuria told Mozzart Sport.
“I think it's a wrong decision on their part to do that, because participating in Kinshasa would have provided them better preparations for their upcoming championships.”
The said boxers now left out of the team include Edwin Okong’o, Dennis Muthama, Friza Anyango, and Veronica Mbithe.
Kenya will be looking to improving from last year’s performance, where they ranked 17th with seven bronze medals.
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