Defending champions to sign five for boxing league
National League champions Kenya Police have confirmed they will sign five boxers to strengthen their defence of the “Yamashita” trophy in 2016.
The five are expected to pass out in February after which they will join the rest in the training camp at Mathare Police Depot.
A confident head coach George “Foreman” Onyango said the incoming fresh blood “will bond well with the current squad in time to retain the trophy we almost lost to Kenya Defence Forces last year.”
The league rivalry between the two teams went down to the wire last season.
Onyango attributed the good showing by the soldiers last season to several changes they made in the latter stages of the season.
The 2014 champions KDF and 1999 winners Prisons settled for second and third respectively.
Prior to their 2014 loss, Prolice had won the league title seven times in a row.
Onyango said the inclusion of new boxers will be a major boost towards their intended back to back success as they plot tom put the brakes on KDF.
Onyango, a gold medallist at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, however, has declined to name the five recruits saying they are currently in training at Kiganjo Police College and will be officially unveiled in early February when they are done with their training.
Police resumed training on Monday at the Mathare Police Depot and showed early confidence.
They are back in training early to prepare for national trials in Nairobi later this month.
Among the boxers Police will retain are reigning All Africa Games bronze medallist Elly Ajowi (heavy), Silas Omanyala, Niven Okum and Peter Mungai (light-fly). Mungai and Ajowi are both national team mainstays.
“The next big assignment for the team is the Olympic qualifiers trials this month. We hope to enter as many boxers in the national team that will be travelling to Yaounde in March as possible. We struggled a bit last season because KDF reinforced their playing outfit. Its good now that we are also undergoing a transition. So let’s see how it goes. But this time round I believe we shall be the team to beat. When our boys come in from Kiganjo we’ll see how best they will fit into the existing squad. Some core team members will now have to compete for their places,” Onyango said.
Police’s intended changes come a week after Prisons also confirmed they will be recruiting six boxers this season in a bid to restore their lost glory.
Prisons coach Maurice “Kawata” Maina admitted some boxers in their current team had outlived their usefulness.
Prisons will retain Harrison Mathuku at flyweight and Joseph Njogu at light-welterweight.
There is a likelyhood that their long-standing boxer and international Daniel Shisia will turn professional this season.
KDF has the likes of Black-Moses Mathenge at welterweight and lightweight Nick Okoth who won a bronze medal at the All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo.
Okoth was in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.