Premium
Kenya set to host explosive East African boxing event
Ugandan boxers Abdul Njego (from left), Kasuja Henry and Owen Kibira, who will participate in the 12 Round Sports Promotion boxing extravaganza on May 24 at Charter Hall, Nairobi.
What you need to know:
- While Okwiri and Onyango are yet to be assigned opponents, Kasujja is scheduled to face Charles Misanjo of Malawi in a welterweight bout. Kibira’s opponent remains unconfirmed.
- “I am advising Misanjo to come ready for war. I will punish him thoroughly,” said Henry Kasujja, who is ranked 4th in Africa and 81st globally by the World Boxing Association.
Uganda’s 12 Sports Round Promotion company is set to make its debut in Kenya with an explosive 11-bout boxing event dubbed “Umeme Night, Hakuna Mchezo”, slated for May 24 at Charter Hall in Nairobi.
The event will feature top boxers from across the region, including Uganda’s Owen Isaac Kibira (super welterweight), Henry Kasujja, and Abdul Njengo, alongside Kenya’s former Africa Boxing Union (ABU) champion Rayton Okwiri and rising heavyweight Denzel Onyango.
The promotion, managed by Stephan Ssembuya, who is based in the United States, plans to stage four fight nights this year, culminating in a grand event on December 26.
The Nairobi showdown will bring together boxers from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, and Sweden, marking a bold regional expansion of the Ugandan promotion.
Speaking during the launch at Hillpark Hotel in Nairobi on Monday, Joshua Sewankambo, the legal officer for 12 Sports Round Promotion, said the decision to shift operations from Uganda to Kenya was strategic.
“We not only have a good atmosphere here but talent too. We are here to make professional boxing in the region great again. We want to help produce quality and fine boxers to challenge for world titles again,” said Joshua Sewankambo, representing Ssembuya
Sewankambo emphasised that sports tourism is a major economic driver in the region, adding that boxing—long one of the most successful Olympic sports after athletics—must reclaim its former glory.
The event launch was attended by Kenya Professional Boxing Commission (KPBC) chairman Reuben Ndolo and secretary general Frankline Imbenzi, who welcomed the Ugandan promotion to Kenya.
“This is a bold decision by our brothers from Uganda to set camp in Kenya, and we shall give them all the necessary support,” said Ndolo.
“We are confident our own Onyango, Okwiri, and others will give a good account of themselves.”
Onyango, who lost to Alija Mesic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in last month’s WBC Grand Prix in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is expected to return to the ring with renewed determination.
“I haven’t stopped training since then,” said Onyango, who is based at the Pal Pal Gymnasium in Nairobi.
While Okwiri and Onyango are yet to be assigned opponents, Kasujja is scheduled to face Charles Misanjo of Malawi in a welterweight bout. Kibira’s opponent remains unconfirmed.
“I am advising Misanjo to come ready for war. I will punish him thoroughly,” said Henry Kasujja, who is ranked 4th in Africa and 81st globally by the World Boxing Association.
