Risum Boxing: Politics Affecting Fight Game In Kenya

The ongoing campaign for the upcoming presidential elections in Kenya, set to be decided in December, have more or less put the country on hold when it comes to sports activities. This also means that professional boxing is on the back-burner, and that Risum Boxing’s David Kiilu, James Kimori and Samson Onyango could be forced to go abroad if they are to get at least one more fight before the end of 2007.

“All everybody is talking about and concentrating on is basically the elections, so it is an uphill battle to arrange a professional boxing show the next few months in Kenya”, says manager Henrik Risum, and continues:

“But I will be looking into the possibility of taking the guys abroad in November or December, so they all can get one more fight this year. We are working on this right now.”

David Kiilu (27-8-2, 14 KOs) started 2007 with a close decision-loss against Frenchman Cyril Thomas for the WBF super featherweight title in April, and has since rebounded with two victories at home in Nairobi.

According to Risum, the southpaw stylist has been in the running for a few possible title fights in Europe over the summer, but in the end things have not worked out, and Kiilu is on stand-by for his next big assignment:

“David will hopefully get a new big fight sooner rather than later, but in the meantime it would be optimal for him to stay busy with a six or eight rounder next month or in December. Then we will see what happens after that. He is willing to fight anybody at super featherweight, or even move down to feather or up to lightweight for the right fight,” concludes Risum.

As for welterweight prospect “Jesse” James Kimori (6-0, 4 KOs) it is a case of adding more experience and building on his undefeated record. Kimori has fought four times in 2007, but Risum had hoped to reach six or seven fights for his “coming man”, saying:

“Several cancelled fights and other circumstances have hindered his activity significantly, but if we get him up to five fights this year it hasn’t been all that bad. Next year will be the year he makes his mark anyway!”

Samson “The Hammer” Onyango (12-2, 9 KOs), coming off an admirable performance (L12) in Poland on August 30 against “The Ukrainian Tyson”, Roman Shkarupa in a bid for the WBF Intercontinental super middleweight title, will be looking to bounce back with a victory to position himself for a new title shot in early 2008.

He is back in training, working with new coach Kevin Mulama and waiting for things to fall into place.

“Samson did very well in Poland, taking the fight on less than two weeks notice and still giving a tough guy like Shkarupa a good run for his money. That proved to me that Sam can mingle with top names, and with his punching power he has a shot against anybody. So, we are going for gold again in 2008, no doubt,” promises Risum.