Kenyan boxers beaming with confidence as Commonwealth Games kick off

Kenya's Boniface Mogunde (left) in a past bout against Zine El Abidine of Morocco. [File, Standard]

Kenyan boxers are determined to win medals at the 2026 Commonwealth Games that kicks off in Glasgow, Scotland, today.

Their minimum achievement target is to reach the medal bracket and come back home with their heads high.

Four boxers were selected to take part in the games.

Africa Boxing Championships light middleweight (71kg) champion Boniface Mogunde said he's more focused and eager to achieve his goal.

"Winning medals and coming back home with pride is our ultimate goal. This is why we are working hard in residential training to ensure we make Kenya proud," Mogunde told Standard Sports.

This will be the first time Mogunde will be taking part in the games but his experience speaks volumes and allows him to get to the medal bracket, having featured in the World Boxing Championships, World Cup, Africa Games, Africa Boxing Championships, Africa Zone Three Championships and a number of invitational tournaments all around the globe.

"That's enough exposure to allow me or the squad to win medals in Glasgow because we are going there for serious business," said Mogunde, who boxes for record league champions Kenya Police.

"Again, all this is pegged on special prayers we have always made to be part of our diet."

National light heavyweight champion Robert Okaka is another boxer who looks forward to big things.

He's keen to reach higher levels of the games if his words during the first leg of the league championships in Nakuru in May are anything to go by.

"As I win here (Nakuru), my focus is to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games in Scotland when the right time comes," Okaka said in a past interview.

Okaka, who's the only Kenyan boxer who reached the quarterfinals to qualify for financial awards at the World Boxing Championships in Dubai last year after he defeated Tunisian Youssef Rafrali in the last 16, is beaming with confidence in the fight for top honours.

However, in the quarter-finals of the global championships, Okaka was beaten by Dzhambulat Bizhamov of Russia.

Other members of the squad are featherweight (57kg) Amina Martha and lightweight Rosemarion Achieng', who studies in Germany.

Achieng', a member of Kayole Boxing Club and currently studying in Germany, will be making her first appearance for the national team.

Head coach Musa Benjamin arrived in Glasgow on Tuesday night ahead of the squad for the team's registration and other formalities before the official opening and kick-off of the two-week event.