Kenyan boxers blow hot and cold in Maputo

Christine Ongare and Shaffi Bakari Hassan have become the first big name casualties of the Kenya boxing team at the ongoing Africa Boxing Championship in Maputo, Mozambique that enter Day Three on Wednesday.

Ongare lost against Zambian Margaret Tembo while Shaffi Bakari Hassan also fell out on points against George Molwantwa of Botswana.

Captain Nick Okoth won his quarters 5:0 against Jean Jerry Agathe of Mauritius together with Samuel Njau who proved too strong for Aly Badra Doumbouya of Guinea with the referee stopping the fight in the second round.

'Commander' Okoth qualified for the quarters without stepping into the ring after his opponent from Sudan Wadah Mahmoud failed to show up.

On Day One of the championship Kenya had a bad start after Amina Martha lost her bantamweight preliminary bout to Egyptian Yomna Rezk Ahmed with the referee stopping the contest in round 3.

Sinovuyo Mtintelwa of South Africa defeated David Karanja on points in the Flyweight category.

But Boniface Mugunde came on top with a 5-0 win over Raul Obama Mangue of Equatorial Guinea in a Light middleweight bout and will now meet Mohamed Ahmed Abdullahi in the quarterfinal slated for Wednesday afternoon.

Gold medalists will bag Sh1,204,000 ($10,000 ), silver medallists Sh602,000 ($5000 ) and bronze medallists Sh301,000 ($2500 ) in the premier annual showpiece that will end on September 18.