Okoth ‘sorry’ for poor outing, says team picked ‘positives’

Kenya boxing national team captain Nick ‘Commander’ Okoth is 'sorry' for the dismal performance they registered at the world boxing championships in Belgrade, Serbia but says i despite the loss there are positives they picked from the competition.

The team failed to break the jinx of not winning a medal in the championship for the last 43 years, the same city – Belgrade – that Steve Muchoki and his compatriots registered Kenya’s most impressive performance ever during the world championships in 1978.

“Despite receiving all possible boxing honors and medals, I failed to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics after losing to Mongolia’s Erdenebatyn Tsendbaatar but I strongly believed I was going to do well in Belgrade only to return empty handed again. I say sorry to our Kenyan fans that had a lot of expectations from us after the Olympics. In sports there is always a winner and a loser,” said the 39-year-old Okoth.

The national boxing team Hit Squad jetted back into the country yesterday from the  assignment which ended last week in Belgrade, Serbia where Kenya failed to win even a single medal.

A total of 13 male boxers were fielded in the 2021 AIBA Men's World Boxing Championships but fell in first round defeats.

Cuban boxers were the most successful, with three gold and two bronze medals, and they received the trophy of the 'best team'.

Japan, Kazakhstan, and the USA earned two gold medals each, while Azerbaijan, France, the Russia Boxing Federation Team (RBF), and Ukraine each claimed gold.

Twenty-five nations won at least one medal at the major event.

For the first time ever, Albania, Belgium, Iran, Scotland, Serbia, Trinidad & Tobago received medals for their efforts during the Championships.

For the first time in history, the winners in each weight category received significant prize money and solid medals, as well as champions’ belts.

Gold medal winners took home Sh11.1 million. Silver and bronze medalists walked away with Sh5.5 million and Sh2.7 million respectively.

The AIBA Flag was passed from Serbia, represented by team captain Vladan Babic, to AIBA Secretary-General Istvan Kovacs who in turn gave it to Senior Vice-President of Uzbekistan Boxing Federation Saken Polatov.

The next AIBA Men's World Boxing Championships will take place in 2023 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan but before that the women's world championships will be held in Istanbul, Turkey next month.