This comes after Kenya’s first boxer in the ring at this year’s championships, light-flyweight Veronica Mbithe, was eliminated by Kazakhstan’s decorated fighter Alua Balkibekova on a unanimous points decision, but not after putting up a brave fight against the two-time World Championships medallist on Sunday night.

The 29-year-old Balkibekova won silver and bronze at the past two World Championships and is also a two-time Asian champion.

And on Monday, flyweight Akinyi and featherweight Chege sailed into the Round of 16, each without throwing a punch after their would-be opponents Mathiba Thandolwethu (South Africa) and Gojkovic Bojana (Montenegro) failed to show up.

Akinyi will now face home girl Javanovic Dragana in the round of 16 on Wednesday while Chege awaits the winner of Monday’s Round of 32 fight between Mexico’s Peres Mejia Diana Paloma and Tajikistan’s Samadova Mijgona in the Round of 16 also on Wednesday.

Kazakhstan fighters are revered in these global circles with one boxing commentator here joking that some nations quickly withdraw their fighters once drawn against Kazakh boxers!

But Mbithe did not chicken out after the draw and took on the world championships medallist, surprising her with combination punches that threw the Kenyan corner at the Cair Sports Centre into a frenzy.

“Her record is good…she’s a two-time world champion and she came in knowing that she would finish the fight early, but I was also confident that although she is a champion in her country, I’m also champion in my country…,” Mbithe reacted.

“She’s a world champion and I’m an upcoming champion, so I said she won’t beat me via a stop. I was confident I would go toe-to-toe with her until the final round.”

Balkibekova tried to make her powerful right count, catching Mbithe on the backfoot several times, but the Kenyan stood her ground.

“My strategy was to attack with a combination of punches because even my coaches told me not to rely on single punches,” she explained.

“When she came in with one punch, I responded with three and it was working well… the only blunder I made was the fact that I was going in from my left which exposed me to her powerful right attack.”

Mbithe said she learnt a great deal from the fight and was motivated by the fact that she lasted the distance against an experienced fighter.

“The fight motivated me… I’m very happy because I have now seen that these fighters are beatable after all.”
The judges from Morocco, Spain, Belgium, Serbia, and Cuba - namely Semlali Oumayma, Francisco Avila Prieto, Pompili Felice, Petkovic Maria and Wilfred Vasquez Calero - gave the Kazakh fighter a 5-0 decision (30:27; 30:26; 30:24; 30:27 and 30:27).

Schedule for Kenya’s boxers at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships that started yesterday in Nis, Serbia:

Tuesday:

Bantamweight: Amina Martha - ranked 3, bye to Round of 16, to fight winner between Islem Ferchichi (Tunisia)/ Karina Tazabekova (Russia);
Lightweight: Emily Juma vs Miroslava Jedinakova (Slovakia);
Light welterweight: Cynthia Mwai vs Miriam Hernandez Gonzalez (Mexico)
Welterweight: Friza Anyango vs Tamara Kubalova (Slovakia);

Wednesday:

Flyweight: Lencer Akinyi vs Javanovic Dragana (Serbia) – Round of 16;
Featherweight: Pauline Chege vs Peres Mejia Diana Paloma (Mexico) or Samadova Mijgona (Tajikistan);

Thursday:
Light heavyweight: Elizabeth Andiego – ranked 1, by to quarter-finals, to fight winner between Wang Xiaomeng (China) and Gulsaya Yerzhan (Kazakhstan).