Edwin Okong'o earns KDF promotion after breaking 17-year boxing jinx

Edwin Okong'o, who delivered the eighth gold medal for Kenya after defeating Moroccan Elquarz Yassine in the middleweight 75kgs category final in a boxing match, has been promoted by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).

Okong'o, who beat the Moroccan on a split points decision of 3-1 at the boxing program in the African Games, has been awarded The Certificate of Commanders Commendation and promoted to the rank of Sergeant by Commander Kenya Air Force (KAF) Major General John Omenda.

This is after an outstanding performance at the 13th All African Games held in Ghana, which saw him become the first boxer from East and Central Africa to win a gold medal in the sport in 17 years.

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Speaking during the event, the Commander KAF congratulated Sgt Okong’o on his great performance noting the impressive nature of this fete.

"Well done and congratulations for the good work put out there. It's of great joy that your winning has come during the ongoing promotion and for that let this rank be a motivation and morale to you so you can keep winning,” Omenda noted.

Further, Base Commander WAB, Brigadier Stephen Sane urged the champion to aim for more international boxing matches and encouraged him to keep flying the KAF flag high.

Okong'o appreciated the gesture vowing to put in more work to grab more boxing accolades.

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Okong'o Historical Feat

The feat was historical because the last Kenyan to win gold at the All-Africa Games was Suleiman Bilali in Algiers, Algeria back in 2007. 

His record remained intact until Okong'o entered the fighting ring in Ghana where he wrote a new history in breaking the 17-year record.

Okong’o opened a new chapter after beating Helal Mohamed Habib of Tunisia in a middleweight (71-75kg) bout to progress to the semi-finals, where he out-punched Algeria’s Ahmed Abdelrraouf Ghazi.

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Elquarz, on the other hand, punched his way into the finals after point victories over DR Congo’s Tshama Mwenekabwe and Jonathan Mwiinga of Zambia.

Okong’o was the first East African boxer to land in the African Games boxing finals in the current edition with a unanimous point victory over Algerian rookie Ghazli Ahmed.

Speaking before the final, Okong'o had made it clear that losing was not an option for him. The boxer expressed confidence in grabbing the gold medal at the competition.

“It has been quite a difficult journey and reaching where I am has not been easy. I have been pitted against North Africans from the onset but I believe I am up to the challenge,” he stated in a pre-match conference.

“My mission here was to go back with a gold medal because it's a long time since Kenya won a boxing gold in the games,” he said

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