Kenya’s Edwin Okong’o lived up to his promise to deliver gold as he beat Morocco’s Yassine Elouarz in the men’s middleweight 75kg category.
Okong’o beat the Moroccan 3-1 as the boxing programme of the African Games concluded at Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra on Friday.
The feat was historical because the last Kenyan to win gold at the All-Africa Games was Suleiman Bilali in Algiers, Algeria.
Okongo had said losing was not an option for him after making it to the final.
“It has been quite a difficult journey and reaching where I am has not been easy. I have been pitted against North Africans from the onset but I believe I am up to the challenge,” he was quoted as saying before the race.
Okong’o beat Helal Mohamed Habib of Tunisia in a middleweight (71-75kg) bout to progress to the semi-finals, where he out-punched Algeria’s Ahmed Abdelrraouf Ghazi.
Okong’o had said that winning just a silver would not have quenched his thirst for glory.“ My mission here was to go back with a gold medal because it's a long time since Kenya won a boxing gold in the games,” he said