Kenya’s Shaffi Bakari (left) in action against Dawd Zekerya Kedir of Ethiopia during Elite World Men Boxing Championships at Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai on Thursday. [BFK Media]
Shaffi Bakari made a positive start for the Kenyan team on the first day of the Elite World Men Boxing Championships at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Thursday night.
Bakari, who boxes for league champions Kenya Police, defeated Dawd Zekerya Kedir of Ethiopia on points to give The Hit Squad the first win at the global championships.
The win was a morale booster to the rest of the squad in the Middle East city, as each boxer beamed with confidence ahead of their bouts, as they’ll be out to improve on both their individual and overall performance in the competition.
During the match, Bakari was very steady in the first round while defending very well with good footwork and accurate jabs that landed on target, just like his opponent, who lost it in the last two rounds.
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Bakari carried on with a similar performance in the subsequent two rounds.
After being declared the winner, Bakari saluted his two coaches, head coach Musa Benjamin and assistant coach David Munuhe, for their good work in moulding him to be an accomplished international pugilist.
Speaking before the match, Bakari said he was ready for a big assignment in his amateur boxing career in his second appearance at the global championships.
The policeman had said all medals were nameless and it’s upon each boxer to inscribe his name into any of them, and that’s why he’s in Dubai.
“We are ready to do our best here (Dubai) despite the harsh hot weather conditions as we try to acclimatise by weighing how we use our energies. We’ll try not to burn ourselves out in matches we can use less energy,” he had said in reference to his Ethiopian as an easy target.
In a post-match interview, assistant coach David Munuhe said the team is ready to do wonders.
“This is a morale booster, and I acknowledge it can be done,” Munuhe told Standard Sports on phone from Dubai.
In the first loss, heavyweight Peter Abuti lost to Toktosun Uulu Bakyt Kazakiystan on points.
Still, the Kenyan boxers complained of the harsh weather conditions. Yesterday, five Kenyan boxers were expected to take the ring at different times from 5pm (Kenyan time)..
They were minimumweight (48kg) Silas Onyango, welterweight (69kg) Wiseman Kavondo, light heavyweight (81kg) Robert Okaka, cruiserweight (86kg) Crispin Ochanda and super heavyweight Clifton Macharia.
Onyango was to take on Tissaaratchy Hasika of Sri Lanka, Kavondo was to face Hovhanes Bachkov of Armenia, Okaka was to meet Anton Vinogradov of Estonia, Ochanda was to play against Andrei Chiriacov of Moldova and Macharia was to meet Uladzislau Smiahlikau of Belarus.