All Africa Games light flyweight silver medallist is not relenting on training as he aspires to rack up the maiden and elusive Olympic Games ticket.
Shaffi said the postponement of the 2020 Games to next year is a blessing in disguise as it hands aspiring boxers who failed to qualify more time and better prospects of making it to the games.
“Now we have ample time to recover lost ground as we await for world qualifiers dates to be officially announced. So it’s a wait and see the situation as it’s our hope and prayer that COVID-19 will be contained quite early and sports will be back to normal.”
Bakari, a product of Mombasa coach Leamy Karibu ‘Cobra’ is currently back in his Kisauni backyard, where he trains for an hour a day.
“In the spirit of social distancing, I do try to jog then do an hour’s workout in the evening. The essence is to keep fit and healthy. Once this pandemic is contained, we will all resume our usual heavy training as we await the new dates for qualifiers,” said Shaffi, a former Kisauni Boxing Club member.
Shaffi who were affected by the new weight division rule which reduced men’s Olympic weights from 10 to 8, prompting him to move a berth up to flyweight. “I’m getting along really well in my new weight class though, at the international level, I tend to struggle quite a bit over my rivals who have the due advantage having started in the flyweight category. This means I have lots of catching up to do to stay competitive,” Shaffi added.
Shaffi, the Kenya Police ‘Chafua Chafua’ flyweight mainstay, was a member of the Police team which travelled to Dakar for the Africa Olympic qualifiers but returned empty-handed. He is among top Kenyans whose Dakar campaigns came a cropper alongside professional Rayton Okwiri and Elly Ajowi.
