American to help Kenya prepare for ‘Club games’
What you need to know:
- The captain of American Kick Boxing Academy, Sultan Hanif, will help Kenya’s boxing team prepare for 2018 Commonwealth Games.
- Boxing Association of Kenya president, John Kameta, Monday said Hanif will help the team, popularly known as ‘Hit Squad’ on voluntary basis.
- The Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, from April 4-15.
The captain of American Kick Boxing Academy, Sultan Hanif, will help Kenya’s boxing team prepare for 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Boxing Association of Kenya president, John Kameta, Monday said Hanif will help the team, popularly known as ‘Hit Squad’ on voluntary basis.
The Commonwealth Games will be held in Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, from April 4-15.
“During the inaugural edition of India Open International Boxing Tournament that ran from January 28 to February 1, we discovered that our boys lacked power behind their blows. I believe Hanif will help rectify some of the mistakes our boxers make,” Kameta said.
“He (Hanif) came to Kenya while we were away in India. I was introduced to him by (Kenya Rugby Union chairman) Richard Omwela and when I met him, after a long conversion, I was convinced that he would change our boxing for the better,” Kameta added.
Kameta also expressed optimism that Kenyan boxers will train in Cuba for four weeks in preparation for the Games. He said his association has written to the president of Cuba Boxing Federation, Alberto Puig, requesting the Caribbean island nation to accommodate Kenyan boxers in her training camp for four weeks.
Kenya’s performance in India was not impressive. Not a single boxer came back home with a medal.
The boxers were eliminated in the preliminary rounds. Kenya’s best performance in the Commonwealth Games was in the 1978 edition in Edmonton Canada, when light flyweight Steve Muchoki and his younger brother, Mike ‘Stone’ Irungu won gold medals.
