By Nenez Media Services
DRC: Newly-crowned Zone 3 flyweight champion David “Sanchez” Karanja was nursing a cut above his right eye in his final bout against DRC’s Bakora Kalongo.
Despite the injury, the 25-year-old Karanja (pictured after his first fight) boxed cautiously to win the fight on points 3-2.
“I sustained the injury in a head clash with Ilunga Kabange of DRC in my first fight, so l used my snapping jab to keep him at bay,” said Karanja.
“The doc had told me if the cut opens up he’ll stop the fight, therefore l avoided fighting closely with my opponent and using my footwork to be on the move. My opponent was a good boxer and had a reach advantage. Generally speaking, DRC boxers are tough and skillful, some have been at the Olympics.”
Karanja is over the moon following his victory in Kinshasa.
“I’m so happy and proud of myself for winning gold which has given me more confidence ahead of the Commonwealth Games.”
Karanja, who started boxing at Jericho Boxing Club, made his international debut in last year’s Zone 3, punching his way to the final to settle for silver. He’s now Kenya’s top flyweight and a medal prospect in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July.
With major tournaments coming up, Karanja still needs more polishing to effectively handle the big boys. He’ll have to work on his timing, watertight guard, box with more rhythm and avoid using a lot of unnecessary energy often missing the target through poor timing of his punches.
“It’s true my timing is not perfect yet this is an area l will have to improve on during training,” says Karanja who is still unemployed.
Karanja is part of the Members of the national boxing team, Hit Squad, who are in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the Africa Zone 3 Championship scheduled from April 3 to 11 of 2022.
