Isaiah Ikhoni (right) trades punches with Hector Sanchez during a Kenya Golden Cup bantamweight fight.
Celebrated Kenyan boxer Isaiah Ikhoni was laid to rest on Saturday in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County, amid calls for the government to accord award-winning athletes better treatment in retirement.
The late Ikhoni, who was voted the best boxer at the 1980 Golden Cup boxing tournament, died on July 10 after a fall at his home in Ongata Rongai.
The family preserved his remains at Montezuma Monalisa Funeral Home. He was 66.
During the funeral service on Saturday, Nakuru County Boxing Association Chairman Isaac Mbote who introduced the late boxer to Nakuru Amateur Boxing Club, popularly known as ‘Madison Square Garden’, said: “I was his class teacher in Standard Four in 1974 in Nakuru. I introduced him to coach Peter Morris at Nakuru Amateur Boxing Club in 1975, and he ended up being one of the most accomplished boxers to not only have come out of Nakuru, but also in Kenya. Other boxers should emulate his example.”
Born in Nakuru on February 17, 1959, Ikhoni represented Nakuru Amateur Boxing Club for many years as an amateur.
Ikhoni started his boxing career at the Nakuru Amateur Boxing. Notable boxers who came through the ranks at Nakuru Boxing Club include 1968 Olympic Games bronze medallist Philip Waruinge who also won silver in featherweight category at the 1972 Olympics, Olympian John Kamau, Peter Manene and Philip Mainge.
Ikhoni was one of Kenya’s finest boxers. He represented Kenya in several international tournaments, winning gold in the 1980 Golden Cup at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, and at the 1981 King’s Cup in Bangkok, Thailand.
Golden Cup was an international tournament that was attended by athletes from more than 30 countries, Golden Cup was a boxing tournament organised by USA and brought together countries that had boycotted the 1980 Olympics in Moscow in protest against Soviet invasion of Afghanistan a year earlier.
Top boxing nations of the world attended, including USA, Great Britain, Germany, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines.
USA won the tournament with five gold, three silver and one bronze followed by Kenya (two gold, four silver and three bronze medals), and Puerto Rico.
Flew Kenyan flag high
He turned professional in Japan in 1981 alongside the late Napunyi Oduori. He was in Japan from 1981 to 1989, and registered 14-2-0 (14 victories, two draws, without a loss. In the period he was in Japan, he was known as “Yenekura Ikhoni.”
As a boxer in Japan, Ikhoni issued 10 knock-outs in bouts against different opponents.
Beyond his boxing career, Ikhoni was known for his down-to-earth nature, and his involvement in community-related matters.
After returning to Kenya, he ventured into the tourism sector working as a transporter for Japanese tourists.
Speaker after speaker at the funeral ceremony urged the government to support athletes in retirement.
The boxing fraternity has eulogised the late Ikhoni as an individual who flew the Kenyan flag high regionally and globally.
Kenya Professional Boxing Commission Chairman Reuben Ndolo said: “We have lost yet another legend. I condole with the family of this great Kenyan Isaiah Ikhoni as they mourn their loved one. I also urge the government through those mandated to handle the welfare of those sports personalities who have sacrificed so much for this country to remember Ikhoni's family, as well as families of boxers like the late John ‘Duran’ Wanjau who has been taken ill at Kenyatta National Hospital.”
“It was sad and very disturbing that not a single government official nor a representative from the County Government of Nakuru attended the burial of legendary boxer Philip Waruinge.”
Boxer Stephen Muchoki who won the world light-flyweight title at the 1978 World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, and retired heavyweight boxer Joseph Akhasamba were saddened by Ikhoni's death.
Akhasamba who is the only Kenyan to have won a world heavyweight boxing title eulogised Ikhoni as a friendly man who did not hesitate to offer help.
Retired boxer Peter 'Pipino' Kamau Wanyoike who has represented Kenya in many international tournaments, said: “Ikhoni was a fine boxer who took training very seriously. I helped him finetune certain aspects of his game, and he was a good listener which made him improve faster. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”
“I was outside the house but within the compound and since the door was open I saw my father take a step towards the door. As he was taking his next step, he fell and I saw my mother rush to support him. That was when I ran to know what was happening. He lay down on the floor and was gasping for air. We rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. We were shocked. I cannot remember hearing my father complaining about health issues for the many years I have interacted with him,” the late Ikhoni’s son, Brian Khaule Ikhoni, said of the circumstances surrounding the boxer’s death.
