Kenya Police boxer Shaffi Bakari (left) with coach David Munuhe during a past training session.
Boniface Mogunde, the Africa light middleweight champion, and three teammates secured a perfect season, helping the Kenya Police Service team, “Chafua Chafua”, to reclaim the Boxing Federation of Kenya National League title in Kisumu.
Mogunde, who is also the Africa Zone III champion, knocked out Fred Adolwa of KDF in the fifth and final round in Kisumu, remaining undefeated in the light middleweight category locally for the sixth consecutive year.
Mogunde, 32, had never lost in the welterweight category in the two years prior to moving up to light middleweight in 2020 for the International Boxing Association’s 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Recruits Paul Omondi (featherweight) and Silas Onyango (minimum weight) also finished the season undefeated in their categories. Omondi outclassed Kombo Mwinyi from Kenya Prisons, and Onyango beat Joseph Moses from Nairobi.
Africa Games bantamweight bronze medallist and Africa Zone III champion Amina Martha failed to find an opponent in her category during the final leg. Chafua Chafua won the Kisumu leg with 30 points, lifting the 2025 league title with a total of 110 points.
The team claimed the opening leg in Busia with 24 points, finished second in the second leg in Mombasa with 18 points, third in the third leg in Nakuru with 15 points, and fourth in the fourth leg in Nanyuki with 23 points.
KDF, who were the defending champions, were relegated to second place.
They won in Mombasa (21), Nakuru (23), and Nanyuki (26). With 24 points from Kisumu, KDF finished second with a total of 94 points. They missed the opening leg as their boxers were committed elsewhere.
Kenya Police boxer Shaffi Bakari (left) with coach David Munuhe during a past training session.
KDF won the title last year for the first time since 2019. Chafua Chafua also missed three legs in Kisumu, Homa Bay and Embu.
Police coach David Munuhe said they participated in all the legs. “Discipline and dedication to training were also key. Three of the five gold medals from the recent Africa Zone III championships came from the Police team,” he said.
Mogunde, Martha and Onyango won their respective bouts at last month’s Africa Zone III Championships in Nairobi.
Mogunde, who switched gears to the men’s IBA world boxing championships scheduled for December 2 to 13 this year in Dubai, will be making his third appearance at the world event after reaching the quarters in 2021 Serbia and 2023 Uzbekistan.
“It’s my dream to reach the podium this time around and ultimately make it to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games,” said Mogunde.
Mogunde said Omondi, Wiseman Kivondo, who won the welterweight and light welterweight champion Caleb Wandera forms part of their rebuilding process. “We have recruited them and soon will proceed for their course,” said Munuhe.
KDF chairman Paul Mung’ori said that they missed the first leg since most of their boxers had work commitments. “Some time duty calls for but we hope to participate in all the legs next season,” said Mung’ori.
