Not greatest, but best known around the world! What do you guys say: Wangila, Kamau, Muchoki, Ashira, somebody else??
Kenyan's tend to have more people who have slow twitch muscle fibre, where as many people from West African descent tend to have fast twitch muscle fibre. But any race can produce elite boxers pretty much. I don't think that's the only reason they don't produce boxers. Probably producing a more rural economy than the west of Africa doesn't help either. The populace of long distance running is a goto money make too.
Thanks for taking the time to comment; yes, Philip Waruinge & Richard Murunga won Olympic silver and bronze respectively ('72). I'm in agreement -- it has to be Wangila. First and only Olympic boxing gold medalist from sub-saharan Africa. Olympic gold may never be won again by a boxer from there. That alone may make Wangila immortalized in amateur lore. Plus he turned pro and built a solid record too. For Kenya, a nation with 0 male boxing champs, that's impressive. Yes, we should remember fighters who lost their lives due to the ring. Lost quite a bit just in 2019 unfortunately.
Yes, him. The end was tragic yes but it doesn't change his renown around the world, something that no other Kenyan boxer can take as much credit for.
Robert Wangila is the most famous globally. Also he is the most fondly remembered among boxing fans or sports fans in general here (I'm Kenyan). Coincidentally, even surprisingly, Conjestina Achieng is the name that comes to mind for most casual fans when they think of boxing. She fought for the women's middleweight WBC & WBA titles over a decade ago and of course she is nicknamed "Hands of Stone" So, yeah certainly Wangila globally but somewhat surprisingly Conjestina back home with a bit of recency bias of course.
I can't dispute this as I don't know much about that, but the ethnic group from which Kenya's famous long distance runners come from make up around 10% of the population. The people's to the west of the country (around 14% combined) appear relatively similar in build to West Africans and have excelled in boxing, sprints, football (soccer), rugby, cricket (up to the early 2000s), basketball and so on. The bigger problem that is responsible for the decline of boxing and pretty much every other athletic endeavour besides medium and long distance running is the ridiculous level of corruption. It would take a whole thread to really get into how boxing (as well as cricket, rugby and football) were ruined due to corruption, tribalism and in the case of cricket even racism.
Thanks so much for chiming in! It's nice because you're a local there so know what people think! Perhaps, and I could be wrong, Achieng is the one most known currently. Historically, though, it has to be Wangila, who signed a professional contract with Top Rank and Bob Arum; that alone says a whole as the pros is where the lore and money is. Cool nickname for Achieng by the way .
Sorry to hear about all that corruption; it's an unfortunate problem in many countries which also are held back from athletic success. What part of Kenya was Wangila from btw? The part that produces the good boxers and footballers?
