Back-to-back Olympian Benson Gicharu is content with amateur boxing and has no plans to join the bare-chested game anytime soon.
Gicharu, who qualified for two consecutive Olympics in London and Rio said despite requests from several managers and promoters to join pro ranks, he is sticking with amateur boxing.
Gicharu skipped the second leg of SportPesa boxing league citing a calf injury but is hoping to qualify for bigger championships in future.
“I will be back in action next week. I couldn’t make it to the recent league action due to an injury. I have been in training though I couldn’t run. Now I feel energized and raring to go,” said Gicharu.
Gicharu added that joining professional boxing wasn’t a priority considering the amount of purse locals get from locally organized fights.
“I don’t mind playing for Kenya at least for the next few years. I feel I have quite a bit of energy to locally fight for some years,” said Gicharu.
Gicharu is currently one of the most experienced boxers in the country.
The product of Queen of Peace boxing club, had a semi pro stint in Qatar in his early years of boxing before plying his trade in the now defunct AIBA Pro Boxing.
He has been the longstanding Kenya’s bantamweight champion for a period spanning over one and a half decades. Gicharu better known as ‘Benso’ in local boxing circles, made it to the Rio Olympics incidentally minus a coach when he traveled to Venezuela for the final qualifiers and edged out local Victor Rodriguez on points in the semis of the APB and AIBA World Series of Boxing qualification event in Vargas.
Gicharu went on to vanquish Dominican Hector Luis Garcia in the final.
— SAMSON ATEKA
