Kenyan women boxers make history with four gold medals

History was made as Kenyan women pugilists once again came to the rescue of the national boxing team, Hit Squad with historic victories as the inaugural World Boxing African Elite Championships ended on Thursday.

Kenyan women won four gold and two silver medals on the final day of the championships at Moi International Sports Centre, Indoor Arena on Thursday.

Debutants, light flyweight Grace Atieno and heavyweight Juliet Opondo, claimed stoppage-time victories in their respective finals.

Lightweight Rosemarion Otieno and light middleweight Friza “The Smiling Assassin” Anyango also helped themselves to gold medals.

It was the first time Kenyan women were claiming victories at a major continental championship.

Six of the 10 women Kenya entered in the championships reached the finals.

Two Kenyan men made the finals, Kelvin Maina (flyweight) and Clinton Macharia (super heavyweight), who were due to fight later yesterday evening.

Kenya topped the women’s table, Nigeria were second with three gold medals as Egypt, Uganda and Algeria got one gold medal apiece.

The performance came exactly one year after the women boxers shone at the Africa Boxing Confederation (AFBC) Zone III Championships held at the same venue.

The women collected three gold, five silver and two bronze medals while the men got two gold, six silver and seven bronze medals while the men collected two gold medals.

The best Kenyan women had achieved were the silver medals by Elizabeth Andiego at the African Boxing Confederation Championships in heavyweight in 2022 and light heavyweight in 2024.

It’s the 19-year-old Grace who opened Kenya’s account, punishing her Tanzanian opponent Veronica Mapunda with a flurry of blows before stopping her in the third round with a standing eight-count.

“It’s such a great day for me. I am overwhelmed since this is my first outing with the national team,” said Atieno, who picked up boxing in Form One in 2022 at Makongeni Secondary School in Nairobi.

Atieno, the sixth born in a family of seven, now dreams of representing Kenya at next year’s World Boxing Championships and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

“I hope this victory will help me secure employment in the forces,” said Atieno, who fell in love with boxing after attending a tournament at the Makongeni Social Hall.

Germany-based university student Rosemarion claimed the country’s second gold medal in lightweight, followed by Anyango.

Rosemarion confirmed her dominance over experienced 2022 world welterweight bronze medallist, Ichrak Chaib from Algeria, with a comprehensive 5-0 victory after the Arab had received a standing eight-count in the third round.

After she lost her quarter-final bout to Canadian Marie-Bathoul Al-Ahmadieh at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July this year, Rosemarion worked hard on her guard, and it paid dividends.

It was the second time Rosemarion had stunned the Algerian, who is the 2022 Africa welterweight, 2023 Africa light welterweight and the 2023 African Games light welterweight champion.

Rosemario beat Chaib to win the European Fusion Cup lightweight title during the championships held June 25 to 28 at the Sports Hall in Kaufbeuren, Germany.

“I return to my base in Germany a happy girl,” said the Biology student at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

But it’s the explosive Opondo who sent the crowd in the arena into a frenzy when she knocked down Tanzania’s Rachel Peter Msengi twice in the first round before the referee halted the bout.

Anyango, the Africa Zone III and Africa Military champion, schooled Hamza Tia of Egypt in a comprehensive 5-0 victory.

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