Captain Elizabeth Adhiambo Andiego restored hope in the Kenyan camp after romping into the finals of the ongoing Africa Zone Three Boxing Championships at Kasarani Indoor Arena in Nairobi on Tuesday evening.
It took Andiego one minute and 52 seconds to beat Salma Changirawi of Tanzania in the middleweight semi-final bout to display the confidence she had when entering the ring.
She beat her opponent when the referee stopped the contest (RSC) to save the Tanzanian female boxer from further punishment from the marauding Kenyan fighter.
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Andiego, who’s the Nelson Mandela Cup heavyweight champion and Africa Zone Three middleweight queen, said she’s out to retain the regional title and therefore had to fight like a wounded lion in the first round.
“Retaining this title (Zone Three middleweight) is my ultimate goal, and I’m determined to do exactly that against any opponent that comes my way,” she said.
Going to meet an opponent she had never met before in any of the regional or continental championships, Andiego stated she didn’t want to give Changirawi time to learn her and her tactics.
“That’s why I came with sporadic tactical quick lightning blows in the first round that never allowed her (Changirawi) to breath. At the end of it, it worked for me,” Andiego said.
Andiego faces Mwamba Lulua of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the finals on Friday.
Lulua got a bye to the finals owing to few opponents in that weight category.
Andiego confirmed not having met Lulua before in the Africa Boxing Championships or Africa Zone Three Boxing Championships, unlike many of her compatriots in the two competitions.
“We have never met in any of the two competitions before, but I’m determined to teach her some boxing lessons tomorrow in order to retain my title,” she said.
Asked why she was shifting from one weight to the other at middleweight (75kg), then to light heavyweight (81kg) and then heavyweight (90kg), Andiego said it was a way of meeting different opponents across the continent in gaining experience and exposure in the fight for top honours.
“It’s a way of enhancing my skills and experience in my career in pursuit of further honours,” she said.
Her success gave other boxers who were yet to take the ring the confidence to follow suit.
Then followed the win by Chris Ochanda in the cruiserweight (86kg) when he defeated Baguigan Michel on RSC in round three.
Thereafter, it was a losing streak for the Kenyan boxers, which was opened by Africa Games middleweight gold medallist Edwin Okong’o.
Okong’o kissed goodbye to the event with a bronze medal when he was beaten in the semi-finals by Kinde Wetu of Democratic Republic of Congo in the middleweight category.
Wetu won the match on a unanimous points decision.
Welterweight Wiseman Kavondo, who had high hopes of getting to the finals, stopped at the bronze medal when he was beaten by Kabengela Ntumba of DRC on a unanimous points decision in the semi-finals.
While making her debut with the national team in the minimum weight (48kg), Jane Wangari of Kenya lost in the quarterfinals to the African champion Diyoka Benedict of DRC in RSC round three.
On his part, national super heavyweight (over 92kg) champion Clinton Macharia was given his marching orders by Mukwasa Emo of DRC in the semi-finals of that bout on a 5-0 verdict.
In the quarter-finals matches that allowed winners to cruise into semi-finals that were set for last evening, policeman Silas Onyango stopped compatriot Abednego Kyalo in the flyweight bout in a split points’ decision.
In the female flyweight quarter-finals match, Faith Nafuna floored Sarafina James of Tanzania on a unanimous points decision.
Despite the mixed performance, Kenya’s head coach Musa Benjamin was impressed with the exposure his players had attained in the regional showpiece.
“Building a formidable team is a process, and that’s what we are doing. Winning and losing at this forum is part of that process,” he said.