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There were a total 18 events listed under the Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) in 2024 and for the most part, they lived to their billing despite Kenyan pugilists having a mixed bag in global events.

From the All Africa Games held in Accra, Ghana to the Africa Military Games in Abuja, the Hit Squad was busy with multiple engagements. There was also the Africa Boxing Championship (Men and Women) held in DR Congo in October and the Global Boxing Cup held mid –December in Morocco as well. Kenyan boxers went through the paces, competed and even when they came short, Kenya was proudly represented.

In the domestic scene, Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) emerged overall BFK-National League Champions after the last leg in Homabay County with a total of 126 points. Former Champions Kenya Police AKA Chafua Chafua came in second place in the standings with 46 points after surprisingly only taking part in two legs in the season. The Law enforcers only took part in the Mombasa and Nanyuki legs while skipping the Kisumu, Embu and Homabay legs citing financial constraints.

KDF and Police had tied on 26 points apiece in Mombasa but the Military team won in Nanyuki with 24 points against Chafua Chafua who collected 20 points just shown how close the 2024 season could have wound. Police is one of the few teams that provides the Hit Squad with talent for a majority of international events therefore missing out on key local bouts was a huge disadvantage. To all the credit to the Administration under Anthony Ombok in spreading the game to the grassroots’, lack of sponsorship and serious marketing plans still bedevils the organization to date.

In the Africa Boxing Confederation Championships, Kenya had an impressive show with Coach Benjamin Musa’s Hit Squad bringing home eight medals including one gold, two silver and three bronze thereby finishing third overall. Hosts DR Congo and Morocco shared the spoils at the top with 21 medals apiece.

This performance was far better than the previous edition in Yaounde,Cameroon where Kenya finished 17th place with seven bronze medals. Boniface “Hammer” Mogunde clinched the Light middle-weight title on split’s decision making this achievement Kenya’s first continental gold since 2017 when Nick Okoth won in the lightweight division in Congo-Brazzaville.

Another superstar Elizabeth Andiego who is a former Mandela Africa Cup just lost by split decision in the finals of the 2024 ABCC courtesy of Hasna Larti of Morocco in the Lightweight Division. Debutant Clinton Macharia on his part brought home a silver medal after a close contest with Younes Bouhdid of Morocco in the super-heavyweight bout.

Meanwhile in the All African Games in Ghana saw Edwin Okongo grab attention after clinching a highly coveted gold medal in the Middleweight division. This was Kenya’s first gold in 17 years in the Continental Games. Amina Martha also put up a good show by emerging with a silver medal in the Bantamweight category for women. On a sad note however, Kenya failed to make the cut for the Paris Olympics after struggling at the Qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal earlier on the year.

In the Africa Military Games held in Abuja, Nigeria, Kenya won medals in the middleweight, bantamweight, flyweight, and welterweight divisions. Sgt.Edwin “O’Cox” Okong’o won gold in the middleweight division after defeating Libya’s Dawilu Asum, Dennis Muthama won gold in the bantamweight division, Kevin Maina won gold in the flyweight division, and Friza Anyango won gold in the welterweight division. Kenya’s boxing team delivered an outstanding performance at the Africa Military Games Boxing Championships, winning four gold medals and one silver overall.