Regarded as the future of Kenyan boxing, three pugilists on Tuesday embarked on their maiden overseas tour, a journey of hope and courage as they dream of ultimate glory at the International Boxing Association (IBA) Me’s World Boxing Championships in Dubai.
Action begins today at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
For Caleb Wandera (light welterweight) from Nakuru, Wiseman Kavondo (welterweight), and Paul Omondi (featherweight), their expedition to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games will start in earnest in Dubai.
The trio are part of Kenya’s 13-strong boxers, who will do duty for the country in this rich championships with a total prize purse of $8.32 million (about Sh1 billion).
IBA has set aside handsome cash rewards with winners in all 13 categories getting Sh39 million, silver medallists Sh19.5m and bronze medallists Sh9.75m. Quarter-finalists are guaranteed Sh1.3m.
Kenya's 'Hit Squad' members at Chel'C Hotel in Nairobi before their departure on December 2, 2025, for International Boxing Association World Championship in Dubai.
Kenya has yet to win a world title since Stephen Muchoki’s exploits in light flyweight at the 1978 championships in Belgrade, Serbia, formerly Yugoslavia.
Worst still, the country, for the first time since independence, failed to take boxers to the Olympic Games in 2024.
The late Robert Wangila gave Kenya its first and last gold at the Olympics during the 1998 Seoul Games.
Wandera, Kavondo, and Omondi will be extra motivated to help redeem Hit Squad’s lost glory.
Wandera takes on Lucas Claudio Villalba of Argentina, Kavondo faces the 2020 Tokyo Olympics lightweight bronze medallist, Hovhannes Bachkov, of Armenia, while Omondi is up against Ahmed Alkoum from Libya, in round of 32 bouts today.
Wandera, who hails from Nakuru, is the first pugilist from the Great Rift to make it to the Hit Squad in over a decade.
Wandera, 24, is to emulate Muchoki and other renowned boxers who all hailed from Nakuru, the likes of the 1968 Mexico City Olympics featherweight bronze medallist and the 1972 Munich Olympics featherweight silver medallist Philip Waruinge, and John Wanjau, who competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
“I want to reach the medal bracket…that is my dream,” said Wandera, who dumped athletics and taekwondo for boxing in 2022. He will be making his second appearance for Kenya after claiming bronze at the Africa Zone III Championships held in Nairobi in October.
Omondi,21, who embraced boxing for self-defence at the Soweto slums in Kibra, Nairobi, while in Class Eight in 2017, said he can’t wait to take to the big stage.
“It has been my dream to fight for Kenya at the highest stage, and I thank the coaches and God for giving me this opportunity. I want to test my nerves at the big stage and see how it goes,” said Omondi, who also won bronze at the Africa Zone II Championships.
“It’s long since Kenya won a world or Olympic title, and the journey to achieve that starts in Dubai,” said Omondi
Kavondo, 22, who comes from Kayole, said it’s a big deal for him and other newbies in the team to feature at the world championship.
“This is the way to go if we are to rebuild and return Hit Squad to where it used to be,” said Kavondo, who paid tribute to legendary coach Kenneth " Valdez" Ochieng for mentoring him.
Kavondo reveals that he used to fight a lot while in school, and in 2020, while in Form Two, he decided to utilise his energies in an artistic way, and boxing came into his life.
“I found boxing thrilling, and I joined the Nairobi team under coach John Chea,” said Kavondo, who made his national boxing league debut this year, showing his form by winning the last leg in Kisumu two weeks ago.
He added: “I had to fight my heart out so as to get a place in the national team as well as get employment at Kenya Police.”
Kavondo, Wandera and Omondi have since been recruited by the Kenya Police and will undergo service training after the Dubai championships, scheduled to end on December 11.
Also set to make their international debuts for Kenya are newly crowned Africa Zone III light flyweight champion Silas Onyango, flyweight Kelvin “Young” Maina (KDF), lightweight Washington Wandera (KDF), cruiserweight Chrispin Ochanda (KDF), and super-heavyweight Clinton Macharia (Police).
Hit squad skipper, Africa light middleweight champion Boniface Mogunde is in line for his third world championship after reaching the quarterfinals in 2021 in Serbia and 2023 in Uzbekistan.
African Games middleweight champion Edwin Okong’o, two-time Africa Championships silver medallist Robert Okaka, Africa Zone III heavyweight silver medallist Peter Abuti and Shaffi Bakari will be making their second appearances at this level.
