Special Correspondent, in Dubai
Kenya’s 13-man “Hit Squad” was expected to touch down at the Dubai International Airport last night for the International Boxing Association (IBA) Men’s World Boxing Championships that get underway at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium today.
After securing their UAE visas late on Monday, the “Hit Squad” – captained by light middleweight Boniface Mogunde – couldn’t catch an immediate flight to the United Arab Emirates and were booked to travel on Tuesday afternoon for the lucrative two-week “Festival of Boxing” that boasts a prize purse of $8.32 million (Sh1.076 billion).
Kenyan boxer Boniface Mogunde at Nation Centre, Nairobi, on November 1, 2024.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
The tournament’s draw was pencilled for Dubai’s Ibis Hotel later yesterday, but had to be postponed to today following the late arrival of some teams due to visa delays.
Organisers announced that, subsequently, the start of the competition has also shifted from today to tomorrow to allow travelling teams to land in Dubai in good time.
The official opening ceremony was, however, scheduled to go ahead last night at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium with legendary four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jnr among a stellar cast of performers expected alongside Italian vocal sensation Benedetta Caretta.
Qualification tournaments
On the eve of the December 13 finals of the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships, the IBA has also lined up a pro fight between Russia’s Murat Gassiev and Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev, who will battle for the WBA World Heavyweight Championship title with several undercards on the December 12 programme.
Kenya elected to remain a member of the International Boxing Association despite also signing up with the rival World Boxing, which is recognised officially by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the bona fide organisers of Olympic Games boxing qualification tournaments.
The IBA accepted dual membership last December and allowed the Boxing Federation of Kenya to join World Boxing while still remaining as IBA members, hence Kenya’s entry into the Dubai contest.
The last two Olympic Games boxing qualification and final tournaments in Tokyo and Paris were organised by the IOC, who had withdrawn their recognition of the IBA after questioning governance, finance and integrity issues.
At the last IOC Congress in Costa Navarino, Greece, in March this year, the Olympics body officially announced that World Boxing has been granted recognition and would organise the pathway to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
World Boxing is led by former Olympic and world middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan, while the IBA is headed by Russian sports administrator Umar Kremlev, who maintains his organisation has been operating above board.
Kremlev has spared no resources in organising the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships here in Dubai where a staggering $300,000 (Sh38.9 million) will be on offer for the winner of each fight category, making the “Festival of Boxing” competition the richest in the sport’s history.
Silver medalists will get $150,000 (Sh19.4 million) per weight category with bronze winners taking $75,000 (Sh9.7 million) and fifth-place finishers $10,000 (Sh1.3 million).
According to the IBA’s prize structure, 50 per cent of the cash amount will go to the boxer, 25 per cent to the coaches and 25 per cent to the National Federation “to celebrate the combined efforts of boxers, their coaches and their respective National Federations.”
“Our mission remains steadfast: to empower every boxer to flourish, earn a living, grow professionally and etch their names into the annals of history for themselves and their nations,” Kremlev said in his address ahead of this week’s competition.
“Coupled with the IBA Global Boxing Forum, a top-class IBA Pro Event and the IBA Congress, this
gathering represents the full spectrum of our sport. IBA is not just an organisation; it is a philosophy. A global movement that champions excellence, innovation, and unity in boxing,” the IBA’s Secretary General and CEO, Great Britain’s Chris Roberts, had earlier noted.
Kenya Police boxer Shaffi Bakari (left) with coach David Munuhe during a past training session.
Photo credit: Chris Omollo| Nation Media Group
Boxing Federation of Kenya Secretary General David Munuhe is confident of a good outing in Dubai after lengthy preparations that followed Kenya’s successful outing at the Africa Zone 3 Boxing Championships at Kasarani in October, where Kenya finished second overall to DR Congo with 24 medals (five gold, 11 silver and eight bronze).
In the global tournament’s 51-year history, Kenya has only won two medals, both of them through the legendary Stephen Muchoki - silver at the inaugural contest in 1974 (Havana, Cuba) and gold at the subsequent edition in 1978 (Belgrade, Serbia).
Munuhe has also expressed his appreciation to the Ministry of Sports for supporting the team’s travel: “We are grateful to the Ministry of Sports for financing our travel to these championships and confident that our preparations have gone on well from a logistics point of view.”
Kenya’s experienced head coach Musa Benjamin, is working a tight balancing act of blending raw youth with experience, with an eye on the future and is wary of the fact that he will be throwing nine rookies into the deep end alongside four more experienced squad members.
“If you go into a swimming pool that only has deep ends, you have no option but to swim your way out,” he said philosophically ahead of the team’s travel to the Emirates.
“We are trying to form a team with the future in mind. We want them to fight as much as possible in as many competitions as possible. Most are newcomers, and we want them to gain ring experience – you can’t teach experience,” added Musa, who is expected to be joined in the corner by fellow experienced tacticians Munuhe and John Waweru.
The two-week “Festival of Boxing” will be fought outdoors at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium where temperatures are expected to oscillate between 25 and 30 degrees with relatively low humidity, but still with the possibility of subjecting the boxers to mild heat stress, dehydration and thermal fatigue.
Organisers have encouraged the teams to acclimatise well and take necessary precautions, including hydration and use of electrolyte-based fluids, and have set aside hydration and cooling points around the training and competition venues here.
