The 1973 All Africa games were held in Lagos Nigeria. Kenya finished second overall in the boxing charts behind hosts Nigeria. Kenya’s final medal tally was two gold two silver. The first gold medal came via Feathwerweight George Oduori who beat Eddie Ndukwu of Nigeria 3-2 in the final. The second gold medal came via middleweight Peter Dula who beat John Opio of Uganda in the final by KO.
Flyweight Isaac Maiawa reached the final but lost to Timothy Feruka of Zambia 3-2, thus settling for silver. Light Heavyweight Mathias Ouma also settled for silver after losing to Isaac Ikhouria 3-2 in the final. The other notable Kenyan boxer was Welterweight Dick Tiger Murunga. He started well, beating Ezra Mtorella of Tanzania by TKO, only to lose narrowly in the quarter-finals to John Mensah of Ghana.
A note on George Oduori and Peter Dula
George Oduori firt emerged on the Kenya boxing scene when he challenged legend Philip Waruinge in the 1972 Olympic trials. Oduori lost on points but Mohammed Abdala Kent, a former national heavyweight champion who was also fighting for a place in the team, commented that Waruinge was only declared the winner because he was more experienced than Oduori, whom he described as a very fast and extremely mobile boxer.
Peter Dula for his part was voted Kenya boxer of the year in 1973
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