After an impressive showdown against Colombia's Fidel Munoz, Africa Boxing Union (ABU) super middleweight champion Rayton Okwiri is ready for another epic duel against Uganda’s John Serunjogi in a 10-round non-title fight in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania tonight at exactly 8 p.m live on Swahilifix TV.
“Winning a world title is and has been my dream and a dream for any professional boxer. Therefore, I’ll not underrate any of my opponents in any match in my quest to win a world title, Okwiri said. Okwiri who has had training sessions in the US in the past three months is in East Africa for the next three months where he’s expected to feature in four non title fights. He arrived in Tanzania on Saturday.
After the bout against Serunjogi, he is expected to take on Enock Musambuzi of Zimbabwe on November 26 in Dar Es Salaam ahead of another bout in Mombasa on December 12. “All these bouts are meant to prepare me for a world title fight, which I don’t know when luck will knock on my doors. But I’m determined to put the matter behind me,” he said. All these matches are being handled by Okwiri’s manager Reynold Reyes in consultation with Tanzanian promoter Habib ‘Don King’ Halahala.
The match (between Okwiri and Serunjogi) will be one of the seven curtain raisers of the main match of Abbusaos Sadik Championships heavyweight bout between Salim Jengo of Tanzania and Malawi Hannock Phiri. Asked to comment on the remuneration for the two fighters, he simply said: “Definitely, they’ll be paid well but at the end of it, the two players will be happy.” Kenya Professional Boxing Commission Deputy Secretary General Julius Odhiambo said they have sanctioned the fight.
Okwiri boxed at the 2016 Rio Games but could not go past the continental qualifiers in Senegal last year and has revealed he is now targeting titles in the next five years before hanging his gloves. "I have been boxing for the last 18 years and played at the highest level in amateur ranks. In the next Olympic cycle, I will be 38 years which means I will be approaching the maximum age of 40 and will be left with just two more years to fight as an amateur as stipulated by AIBA. Therefore, my priority will be to win a world title before retiring," said Okwiri, who returned to Hit Squad last year.
22Bet have also sponsored Okwiri to the tune of Sh350,000 to enable him train at Florida's Raynelo Promotion stable. Okwiri wants to nurture young budding talents when he retires. "I have plans to nurture young budding talents and start gyms in Mombasa, Nairobi, Kisumu and Kakamega," he said.
Okwiri left the country in May and landed in Cancun, Mexico for more intensive training in preparation for a series of fights lined up for him. He then moved to Boston for sparring camp, which he says has improved his shape a great deal. “I prefer training in the US because of tough sparring partners unlike in Kenya where we lack stiff competition during sparring sessions,” he offered. Okwiri has won all his six fights including 4 KOs and one draw since turning professional in February 2017. On February 4 same year, he KO’d Tanzania’s Salehe Mkalekwa in the Fox Sports Promotion card at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nairobi.
In his fifth fight on June 8, 2019 Okwiri captured the vacant Africa Boxing Union (ABU) middleweight title with a third round KO over Tanzania’s Hussein Itaba at the Charter Hall. Promoter Michael Reyes has been impressed by Okjwiri’s progress so far in training saying he has learnt to sit down on his punches and is going hard in sparring. “I believe Rayton will be among the top 10 boxers of his category in the world by this time next year,” he assessed.