A beautiful Kenyan sports story is unravelling deep in the heart of a German city located 539 kilometres from the capital, Berlin.
And it is not about the history-making fencer Alexandra Ndolo or the football trailblazer Doreen ‘Dodo’ Nabwire. It is about Kenyan boxer, Rosemarion Otieno, who is gradually making history in the city of Darmstadt, where she is studying biology at the Technical University of Darmstadt.
In just one year, the 26-year-old has made waves, stunning many by winning the 2025 German National Championship lightweight title.
She then secured victory at the Golden Girls Cup, an international boxing championship held in Sweden in January this year.
However, her most impressive performance came at the iconic Eindhoven Box Cup in the Netherlands in May this year, where the multi-talented athlete from Kayole, Nairobi, claimed bronze.
This astute performance earned her a place in the national boxing team, the Hit Squad, for the first time, putting her in line for a medal at the Commonwealth Games.
In preparation for the Commonwealth Games, Otieno won the European Fusion Cup lightweight title at the championships held from June 25 to 28 at the Sports Hall in Kaufbeuren, Germany.
Once again, Otieno stunned the experienced 2022 world welterweight bronze medallist Ichrak Chaib from Algeria, winning with a score of 4–1.
Chaib is the 2022 African welterweight champion, the 2023 African light welterweight champion, and the 2023 African Games light welterweight champion.
The European Fusion Cup is an annual international amateur boxing tournament held in Kaufbeuren, Germany, and dedicated exclusively to female athletes.
The event attracts participants from various European and African nations to compete in high-level bouts across multiple weight and performance classes.
Remarkably, in just one year, Otieno, under the guidance of German coach Eugen Rempel, has achieved an impressive record of 22 bouts, with 20 wins and just two losses.
When Otieno first joined the gym, Rempel thought she was unassuming, training with focus and demonstrating her talent.
Rosemarion Otieno (left) poses with her coach Eugen Rempel after winning the Germany National Boxing Championships.
“From the very beginning, it was clear that she was a true athlete. She asked thoughtful questions, and her upper-body movement and natural athletic ability immediately stood out, even though she was a little heavy on her feet,” said Rempel.
Rempel says Otieno’s development as a boxer has been remarkable in such a short time, and she has made tremendous progress with her footwork.
“She has learned to shift her weight effectively, becoming increasingly agile in both her footwork and her upper-body movement,” he explained.
“She disguises her punches exceptionally well, making them difficult for opponents to anticipate, and she can launch sudden, explosive attacks with great precision,” he said.
Above all, Rempel noted that Otieno’s attitude has impressed him the most.
“She is highly disciplined, never makes excuses, and is eager to learn every aspect of boxing,” he said.
“Rose can really go all the way to the top,” said Rempel, adding that being named Best Female Boxer at two major international tournaments in one year is an outstanding accomplishment.
“She is a girl with rare boxing qualities and a great find for the country,” said Hit Squad coach David Munuhe.
Munuhe reckons that the orthodox boxer is destined for greatness, as her focus extends well beyond the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
“If we have a favourable draw and luck is on our side, Kenya should expect a medal from me at the Commonwealth Games,” said Otieno from her training base at the TG 75 Darmstadt Boxing Club.
“My ultimate dream is to not only feature at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but also to advance to the medal bracket. It’s quite possible, and it’s something we’ll work on with my coach.”
Otieno attributes her success in boxing to her coach, having ditched Muay Thai in 2024 to focus entirely on boxing — a sport she took up in 2022 at the Kayole Boxing Club.
Otieno first fell in love with kickboxing while in Standard Eight at Ruai Primary School, practising it alongside football until graduating from Mary Leakey High School in 2019.
It was at the Goethe Institute, where she studied German between 2021 and 2022, that she decided to try out the Kayole Boxing Club.
“I just loved the coordination between boxers, and above all, their high level of discipline,” said Otieno, who was taken under the wing of coach Gilbert “Caldo” Omondi.
On January 11, 2022, Otieno moved to Germany, where she joined the Technical University of Darmstadt. She then took up Muay Thai for three months, an ancient martial art in which contestants use punches, kicks, elbows and knees to score.
The only girl in a family of five children, Otieno did Muay Thai for three months before taking up football in 2023. She plays as a winger for the regional league team TSV Nieder-Ramstadt Football Club.
Tragically, Otieno’s brother, Jerry “Di Baddest” Olola, who played rugby for KCB Rugby, Strathmore University Leos and Homeboyz, passed away in June 2022.
“It was difficult to find a boxing club when I was living in a village. It wasn’t until I moved to Darmstadt, which is closer to Frankfurt, in July 2024 that I found a boxing club, and the rest is history,” said Otieno. “I had put on a lot of weight and I thought boxing would help me lose some.”
Otieno revealed that Rempel had discouraged her from competing until she was ready, a time which came when she was thrown into the ring for her debut fight at the 2025 European Fusion Box Cup.
Although Otieno lost to home boxer Emma Winter in a split points decision, this loss would propel the Kenyan boxer to a series of victories this year, beginning with the 2026 Golden Girl Championship Tournament Women’s Elite in Sweden.
She won gold by beating Michelle Cox Albone from the United Kingdom in the final, and then claimed another victory at the 2026 International Art of Boxing Cup in Frankfurt by knocking out Jasmin Abakai from Switzerland.
Otieno had to seek the approval of the Boxing Federation of Kenya to enter the Ninth Eindhoven Box Cup, where she beat Veronika Korets from Ukraine in the quarter-final. This was her 17th consecutive victory since losing her debut bout.
She then lost to the Dutch boxer Maud van der Toorn in the semi-finals, but her performance earned her a place in Team Kenya for the Commonwealth Games.
She has since won three more bouts, including her stunning victory against Chaib on June 28 in the 2026 European Fusion Box Cup.
