Kenyan boxer Gicharu out of Commonwealth Games

Benson Gicharu’s search for a gold medal in major championship still has a long way to go after he was unceremoniously bundled out of the Commonwealth Games bantamweight boxing bout on Saturday night in Gold Coast, Australia.

Gicharu, who won bronze in 2014 at the ‘Club’ Games in Glasgow in the bantamweight category was a major medal prospect for Team Kenya due to his experience and the amount of training hours put in before the games began.

But on Saturday night at the Oxernford Studios in Gold Coast, Gicharu was given a quick lesson on how to catch your opponent by surprise.

McGail went in aggressively from the first bell and never gave Gicharu time to lift his head, let alone swing a perfect punch

The Briton’s lightning quick punches coupled with a deadly right punch caught Gicharu off guard. In just over a minute into the bout, Gicharu was facing the referee in a count after he was floored by a swift combination of the Briton’s hard hitting punches.

In the second round the Kenyan was quicker off his corner and seemed to be taking control of the fight. Then disaster struck. McGrail was biding him time, and at the opportune moment, he unleashed a ferocious upper-cut that exposed Gicharu’s weak guard, followed by a well connected right jab that split open Gicharu’s right eyebrow.

The Kenyan needed two medical time outs before the end of the second round. In the third round, Gicharu was still bleeding and that kept distracting him. McGrail knew he has his prey in the corner and went in for the kill once again displaying his great footwork that helped him outwit Gicharu.

A minute into the third round the referee stopped the contest as the bleeding got worse with every punch.

“I’m really disappointed because I let myself down. My game plan never worked in the first half and as much as we changed tact in the second round I was not able to recover especially after getting the cut,” Gicharu told Citizen Digital after the bout.

For McGrail, he was elated with the win in his first match.

“Credit to Gicharu. He fought well especially in the second half when I was getting tired. I think my quick feet, maybe because I’m older than him helped me, but I knew I was facing a very tactful boxer after watching the videos. The only way was to attack fast and swiftly, and I’m glad it worked,” he said.

Gicharu wished his teammates well, now that three boxers have already bid the championship goodbye.