Former Kenyan boxer Nderu is dead
Former national bantamweight boxer John Nderu is dead. PHOTO | FILE |
What you need to know:
- A former national bantamweight boxer, John Nderu, who also boxed for Kenya Prisons in the 1970s is dead.
- He died on Thursday aged 75 years.
- His son, Edward Mwaura, said that his father died early in the morning at Baraka Hospital, Nakuru.
A former national bantamweight boxer, John Nderu, who also boxed for Kenya Prisons in the 1970s is dead.
He died on Thursday aged 75 years.
His son, Edward Mwaura, said that his father died early in the morning at Baraka Hospital, Nakuru.
He said that his father suffered from dementia and had gone missing for eight days. Mwaura said that his father will be buried on Wednesday in Rongai Nakuru.
The former Kenya’s featherweight champion, Philip Waruinge, said that Nderu joined boxing after him at the Madison Square Gardens and that they were like brothers as they grew up together.
They were both in Kenya’s squad for the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica where Nderu got a bronze medal and Waruinge settled for a gold medal.
Nderu also represented the country in the 1972 African Championships in Nairobi where he got a bronze medal.
The national boxing coach, Patrick Maina, who is also Prisons’ assistant team coach, said that Nderu had already retired from boxing when he joined Prisons.
He said that even though he started his boxing career at the same club, Madison Square Gardens, Nderu belonged to the older generation of pugilists.
Nderu’s former club mate, light heavyweight Stephen Thiga is also suffering from dementia.
