This archive report was first published on 24 October 2019.
Heavyweight boxer Elly Ajowi is a worried man as the fourth leg of the National Boxing League begins today at Nanyuki Social Hall.
At 38 years old and a father of two, Ajowi has represented Kenya in Commonwealth, African Games, and the Olympics, but he says defending his title will not be an easy assignment.
“Times have changed as emerging talents from smaller clubs are posing a great danger to established clubs in the league. This is a sign of the great strides that have been made as boxing crawls back to its former glory,” said Ajowi.
Ajowi, a member of the Kenya Police squad popularly known as Chafua Chafua, warns that it's no longer automatic for any national champion in any weight category to win their matches in the league championships as it was before.
The league championships will be used by national selectors to identify potential players to be named in a provisional squad for the 2020 African Olympic qualifiers to be hosted in Dakar, Senegal, in January.
According to Boxing Federation of Kenya Technical Director Albert Matito, all clubs must take the league championships seriously in their quest to have some of their players named in The Hit Squad.
A total of 10 clubs and nine counties have confirmed participation in the penultimate leg of the league championships ahead of the final leg in Kisumu next month.
