Kenyan boxer Daniel Wanyonyi claims he lost his fight against Tanzanian boxer Karim “Mtu Kazi” Mandonga due to a long layoff.
The former Africa Boxing Union (ABU) champion lost his bout Saturday night at Kenya International Convectional Centre.
Speaking to journalists after the non-title super middleweight fight, Wanyonyi said he started the war as expected but lost gas.
“I was rusty as I had not fought since 2021. I got to fight at the last minute and felt quite rusty. The Tanzanian has always been active, but I went out of gas,” he said.
The 43-year-old boxer confirmed that he would rematch Mandonga, who controlled the match’s tempo, once he got a good trainer.
“I will get a good trainer and then do a rematch,” Wanyonyi concluded.
With a chiseled physique and all of the confidence in the world, Wanyonyi appeared confident that he would beat Mandonga However, as their showdown was underway, things never went how Wanyonyi envisioned.
Both fighters were sized up well in height and size, and the opening round started with exchanges as both men wasted no time throwing their power punches and testing each other’s chins, getting the crowd to cheer the action.
Then things turned for the worse from the second round as Wanyonyi started being overpowered and went on to survive the fourth and fifth rounds.
The bout ended prematurely as Mandonga was declared the winner by technical knockout after Wanyonyi failed to get back into the right when the sixth round bell rang.
Wanyonyi thanked his supporters in Gikomba, on social media and back home in Western Kenya for supporting him in the fight.
