Kenya’s national boxing team, the Hit Squad, went on a training tour in Cuba in August, last year to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games Africa qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal.
The tour party had 12 Kenyan boxers, including Boniface Mogunde, who trained and sparred with the feared Cuban team.
The trip followed a boxing partnership agreement signed between Kenya and Cuba in 2022 reviving an association that had existed years before.
The last of those flights to Cuba carrying a Kenyan team was in 2004 when Suleiman Bilali and David Munyasia trained in Havana.
Cuba is the second most successful nation in Olympic boxing, with 42 gold medals, 19 silver medals, and 19 bronze medals. Only the United States has won more Olympic medals -- 50 gold, 27 silver and 41 bronze.
Cuba top the medal standings at IBA World Boxing Championships with 81 gold, 38 silver and 30 bronze. So, it made a lot of sense for Kenya to seek the help of the Caribbean nation.
During the 10-day camp, the Kenyan boxers had the privilege of sharing the gym with some of the world’s best boxers including the 2020 Tokyo Olympic heavyweight champion, Julio Cesar De La Cruz Peraza, who also claimed 2016 Rio Olympics light heavyweight gold.
Other Cuban greats who rubbed shoulders with the, no doubt, impressed Kenyans, were Arleen Lopez and Roniel Iglesias, who have two gold medals each from the Olympics and Alvarez Estrada Lazaro and Horta Rodriguez, who hold three world titles each.
World championship lightweight silver medallist Erislandy Alvarez, who won gold in lightweight at the Paris Olympics, also trained with the Hit Squad.
Some of the medals won by Boniface Mogunde, a Kenyan boxer from Kenya Police.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
However, the Cuban-trained Hit Squad failed to qualify any pugilist for the Paris Olympics, the first time this was happening since independence.
The results came after the country had also failed to secure a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham for the first time since the 2002 Games in Manchester, England.
In fact, just before heading to Cuba, the Hit Squad had in July, last year staged a lukewarm show at the Africa Boxing Confederation Championships, finishing 17th with seven medals, all bronze.
However, the results of the Cuban tour have started being felt.
Kenya claimed its first gold since 2017 at the Africa Boxing Confederation Championships held in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo fortnight ago.
It’s none other than Mogunde who punched his way to light middleweight victory as he also finally got rid of the “Mr Bronze,” tag he had been wearing.
Mogunde’s heroics came after Edwin Okong’o made history at the Africa Games in March this year in Accra, winning Kenya’s first African Games boxing gold in 17 years.
On his debut outing with the Hit Squad, Mogunde claimed bronze at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco before winning silver at the 2021 Africa Zone III Championships. He then won bronze a year late at the Zone III championships.
Mogunde settled for another bronze after he lost to Hamza El Barbari from Morocco in the semi-final of their light middleweight contest at the 2022 Africa Boxing Confederation Championships in Maputo, Mozambique.
Fortunes turned for Mogunde in the DRC capital that was preparing to mark the 50th anniversary of the famous “Rumble in the Jungle,” the iconic heavyweight bout between legends Mohammed Ali and George Foreman on October 31.
A tactical Mogunde, who deployed the hit-and-run approach, with good footwork, beat Burundi's Nestor Nduwarugira in the final of the light middleweight contest.
However, Mogunde’s semi-final victory against Morocco's Abidine Amroug is so far his most memorable bout. He knocked down the Moroccan in the second round before winning in a split decision.
Boniface Mogunde (left) sends Mohammed Rabii of Morocco to the canvas during a past bout in Dakar, Senegal.
Photo credit: Pool
“I had beaten Nduwarugira before at Africa Zone III and knew how to handle him but was a bit tense against Amrong.
“Few expected me to beat the Moroccan but I did. The final looked done and dusted but I had to stay focused,” said Mogunde.
“That trip to Cuba helped. The boxing knowledge I acquired helped me deliver the victory,” said Mogunde.
“They Cubans teach you how to score and move in the ring. You hit as you move around and that is what I deployed in my three bouts. I kept my opponents at bay with more footwork and clean scoring. It is more about technique than power,” said Mogunde.
Mogunde hopes that the partnership between Kenya and Cuba will be strengthened further so that more Kenyan boxers train with the Cuban team.
“If there is a boxer I want to train with again is Julio César La Cruz. I just want to learn more about how he manages to keep his guard down but win matches with great footwork and scoring,” said Mogunde.
The Hit Squad eventually collect eight medals -- one gold, two silver and five bronze, to finish third overall in the medal standings behind Morocco (10 gold, eight silver, three bronze) and DRC (nine gold, five silver, seven bronze).
Besides the Cuban experience, Mogunde said the camaraderie within the Kenyan team also contributed to their performance in Kinshasa.
“The journey started in Nairobi where we had good preparations. We mingled with the coaches like never before. It’s an atmosphere that allows for free and honest communication,” explained Mogunde. “There was equality with no fear or feeling that some boxers were superior to others.”
Mogunde, a Kenya Police “Chafua Chafua” boxer said: “It was my dream to one day have the national anthem played in my honour and country. I was in deep prayer on the podium, thanking God for the victory. Nothing is impossible when you put God first, believe, and work hard,” said Mogunde.
“We play the game for the love of it. It brings togetherness and nothing is as satisfying as making the Hit Squad,” said Mogunde, who was appointed deputy captain in 2022 and has been the national champion since 2021.
Mogunde said that failing to send a boxer to the Olympics for the first time was one of the most painful experiences as a boxer hence his resolve to work hard and make it to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
“I want a World Championship medal before I can pursue my ultimate dream of featuring at the Olympic Games,” said Mogunde.
Kenya Police head coach David Munuhe said that Mogunde is a disciplined and focused boxer hence his victory didn’t surprise him.
“Simple mistakes cost him in previous bouts but he has learnt the hard way. Instead of a distance approach, he used to prefer close fights,” said Munuhe.
It all started 2007 at an open-air session that was conducted by an unnamed old man in Embakasi while Mogunde was a student at Embakasi Primary School where he cleared in 2009.
“He would come in the evening and gather boys at an open field for sparring while tipsy. We really enjoyed the sessions and that is how I got into boxing,” said Mogunde, who also played football and basketball while at Matungulu High School in Machakos where he graduated in 2012.
Mogunde was caught by the boxing craze when he joined other boxers for training at the Embakasi Social Hall and met coach Bernard “Faiba” Otieno.
It didn’t take long before he won his first light welterweight title in 2014 as he competed in the intermediate and novice championships for the Nairobi team.
“That is when I met the national head coach Benjamin Musa, who handles the Nairobi team,” said Mogunde whose father was against him taking up boxing terming the sport dangerous.
“However, my father now supports me fully.”
But in 2015 Mogunde was tossed into the real world of boxing when Kenya Police boxer Victor Onyango gave him a thorough beating in a National League match.
“I thought I was a good boxer at the novice level until I met Onyango. He made me quit boxing for a while before coach Musa lured me back because he saw some talent in me,” said Mogunde, who moved to welterweight when Kenya Police recruited him in 2015 where he met coaches David Munuhe and James Waweru.
He fought in the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games trials losing to eventual winner Dennis "Bilabong" Okoth in the quarter-final but was picked as his sparring partner in the Hit Squad camp.
Mogunde made Team Kenya for the 2019 African Games where he claimed the first of his many bronze medals.
The fighter reckons boxing can change one’s life, offer employment and instil discipline.
“The introduction of prize money by IBA president Umar Kremlev in continental and world events marked the turning point. There is now something to fight for,” said Mogunde, who is eyeing a podium finish at the 2025 World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan in May.
