Kenya Police pip KDF to clinch national boxing open championships
KDF redeemed themselves by edging out Siaya County by a point to win the overall women's title with seven points, defeating runners-up Siaya County with six
The National Open Boxing Championship concluded at the weekend at Charter Hall in Nairobi with Kenya Police Service winning the overall men’s title with 21 points, edging out fierce rivals Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), who finished second with 16 points.
Kenya Police contested in eight men’s weight categories, winning five and coming second in three, while the KDF contested in six, winning four and finishing second in two.
KDF redeemed themselves by edging out Siaya County by a point to win the overall women’s title with seven points, defeating runners-up Siaya County with six. KDF contested for four weight category titles, winning two and finishing second in two, while Siaya County went for 2 and winning both convincingly by stopper.
The championship, which ran four days instead of the traditional three due to high entries, was the third local event of the year organised by the Boxing Federation of Kenya. It featured 105 male and 21 female boxers from 16 teams representing various counties and boxing clubs across the country. Overall, there were 13 male and 6 female 2025 Champions.
The event was graced by distinguished Kenyan boxing legends. BFK paid homage to the great boxing legends who later took part in awarding best championship performers along with handing over IBA certificates to newly accredited 1 Star Coaches, as well as 1 and 2 Star Referees and Judges.
After four days of fierce battles that captivated spectators, the championship was headlined by high-voltage final bouts that ignited bitter rivalries key among them “One-man Army” Robert Okaka split decision victory against local rival Humphrey “Jakababa” Ochieng that wrapped up one of the most spectacular Kenya Opens in recent memory.
Abednego Kyalo, Abubaka Karim, Ann Wanjiru, and Kombo Mwinyi’s defeats were among big upsets, while Emmanuel Chondo, Diouf Muimi, Sonia Atieno, Washington Wandera, Alice Vincent, Chris Musyoki, and Jushua Clive were among the young, up-and-coming boxers who put on a great performance giving assurance of world class boxers Kenya will have in near future.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Denzel Onyango was stopped in Round 1 in the WBC Boxing Grand Prix against Bosnia Herzegovina’s Alijs Mesic in a one sided encounter at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Kenyan boxer could not handle the jabs and speed of the opponent as he was mostly in the ropes with the referee forced to step in and salvage the situation.
The fight itself did not go to plan for Onyango who has a record of 5 pro fights and 3 Knockouts. The Bosnian was relentless and did not allow the Kenyan to strategize thus the bout ended in a couple of minutes much to the despair of Onyango’s technical crew.
