Kenya top medal table at World Boxing Elite Africa championships in Nairobi with five golds

Kenya's national team, the Hit Squad, finished top of the medal table at the inaugural World Boxing Elite Africa Men's and Women's Championships at the Moi International Sports Centre's Kasarani Indoor Arena in Nairobi, winning five gold, three silver and six bronze medals, the Kenyan news site Citizen Digital reported on 23 October. Algeria were second and Uganda third. Grace Atieno, Rosemarion Otieno, Juliet Opondo, Friza Asiko and Kelvin Maina won their finals on 22 October.

Atieno beat Tanzania's Veronica Mapunda in the women's 46–48kg final when the referee stopped the contest in the third round, and Otieno beat Algeria's Ichrak Chaib on a unanimous decision in the lightweight final. Opondo stopped Tanzania's Rachel Msengi in the opening round of the heavyweight final, and Asiko beat an Egyptian opponent on points in the light middleweight final. Maina beat Angola's Martinho Loureiro Ferreira for the men's flyweight title. Maina was named best male boxer of the championships and Otieno best female boxer.

Veronica Mbithe took silver after losing 4-1 to Algeria's Fatiha Mansouri in the women's flyweight final, and super heavyweight Clinton Macharia lost his final to Algeria's Sid Ahmed Moussaoui. Eight Kenyans, among them Elizabeth Akinyi in the women's 75–80kg division, reached the finals, which were 20 bouts across the men's and women's divisions. The Boxing Federation of Kenya had adjusted the schedule because of venue-booking constraints and set the finals for 22 October.

In the semi-finals, Atieno, 19, beat a Ugandan opponent in the women's 46–48kg division and Akinyi beat Tanzania's Hidaya Zahoro in the women's 75–80kg division, both when the referee stopped the bout. Macharia beat Uganda's Emmanuel Tabule 3-2 on a split decision.

Mbithe, Otieno and Maina won their semi-finals on 21 October. Mbithe beat a Ugandan opponent 5-0 on a unanimous decision in the women's flyweight division, Otieno beat an Egyptian opponent 5-0 in the women's lightweight division, and Maina beat a boxer from Equatorial Guinea to reach the men's flyweight final. Five other Kenyans, among them team captain Boniface Mogunde, went out before the finals.

Amina Martha lost her women's bantamweight (51–54kg) semi-final to Nigeria's Ajishola Khadijat and took bronze. The bout was in the afternoon session on 20 October, and Khadijat won 5-0 on a unanimous decision, the Nigerian sports site Sports247 reported.

Emmanuel Odhiambo lost his men's 50–55kg semi-final 5-0 to a Ugandan opponent and won bronze, the Kenyan news site Pulse Kenya reported. On the way he beat Angola's Noel Luemba 4-1 and Sudan's Zienalabden Ismail 5-0.

Odhiambo, 24, is a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) rider from Githurai in Nairobi and boxes for the Githurai 44 Boxing Club. "This was a good experience, and, in fact, it has lit up the fire in me to aim higher," he said, as quoted by Pulse Kenya from an interview with the Daily Nation. "I now have a dream of reaching the highest level in boxing."

The championships, run under the World Boxing umbrella, were held from 17 to 22 October; boxers from 15 countries, more than 150 in all, took part. They clashed with a rival continental event: the International Boxing Association (IBA) scheduled the 23rd African Boxing Confederation Championships for 18 October to 1 November in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and national federations have had to choose between the two.