Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) boxing club head coach Nicholas Abaka wants more room created for budding boxers who can shift the tide in favour of the country in the heavyweight divisions.
The erstwhile Hit Squad pugilist has pledged to groom gallant fighters who possess the mojo to power the country back to its glorious years.
Abaka, who retired from the ring in 2019 after flying the country's flag in international competitions for close to a decade, says he has been busy moulding a new crop of boxers in his fold.
Abaka, who knows what it takes to attain the desired heights in the category, took the country by storm in the 2005 Zone 5 Championships in Nairobi, where he clinched gold in the welterweight division and capped off his stellar performance with the Best Boxer Award.
“The only way for us to move forward as a country and reclaim our forte in boxing is to begin moulding boxers from the scratch. We can't keep relying on the aging boxers who are about to call time on the careers,” said Abaka.
The gaffer attributed the dearth of boxers plying trade in the heavyweight division to weak structures and unenterprising coaches who are unwilling to rummage through the grassroots for talent.
“The biggest challenge we have is that most boxers who end up in those weight categories do so in their prime. Coaches should get out of their comfort zones and move to the grassroots in search of the relevant talent. Otherwise, we shall constantly decry the lack of boxers in those divisions,” said Akaba.
Abaka spoke a week after Hit Squad head coach Benjamin Musa said he had constantly experienced difficulties recruiting boxers to compete in the heavyweight and superheavyweight categories.
“The situation is so bad that we may be forced to travel to some major global shows without a full squad because some of the boxers interested in some weight divisions can not match up the required standards,” said Musa.
A few days later, national heavyweight champion Joshua Wasike also said he was tired of facing opponents who are too weak to offer him any meaningful challenge in the ring.
