Kameta purring as boxers gear for Commonwealth

The Boxing Association of Kenya(BAK) president John Kameta is optimistic that the aspiring young boxers who will be sent to represent Kenya in the Commonwealth Games to be held in Gold coast, Australia next year, have what it takes to win medals in various boxing categories.

BAK plans to send aspiring youthful boxers to the games slated for April 2018, with an aim of enabling them gain experience which will be instrumental for the 2020 Olympic Games.

“I have confident in the boxers who will represent us. They are young, agile and swift and have the burning desire to win. I am optimistic that they will come back with almost four medals. However, our main objective for sending them to Australia is granting them an opportunity to gain experience that will help them cruise through the Olympic Games.” Kameta buoyantly informed Citizen Digital.

Selection criteria

Meanwhile, the federation has set December 15-16 as the selection date for boxers who will travel to Australia.

Having finished the fifth leg in Mombasa, the federation tallied points for every individual boxer thus ranking them from first to last in each category.

Boxers ranked 1-4 from each category are the only ones eligible to earn a call up to Australia but fate lies in their own hands as only one slot is awarded to each category.

The boxers will battle it out in Nairobi. For the semis scheduled for December 15, boxer 1 will face boxer 4 as boxer 2 faces boxer 3. The winners in the semis will sweat it out in the grand final on December 16 and the winners from each category will earn the rights to fight in Australia.

Selection will be done early so as to enable the boxers have enough resting period ahead of the demanding competition.

Training camp

Kameta added that plans are underway to have the boxers retreat to a training camp in January, but this will depend on funds availability.