Kenyan boxers Pauline Chege Wandia and Cynthia Mwai Mwihaki have advanced automatically to the round of 16 at the 2025 IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships after their scheduled opponents were disqualified from the competition.
Pauline was originally set to face Montenegro’s Gojkovic Bojana in the featherweight (54-57kg) round of 32, while Cynthia was due to compete against South Africa’s Mathiba Thandolwethu in the light-welterweight (60-63kg) category.
This development has been warmly welcomed by Kenya’s camp, which continues to pursue medals at the ongoing IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Nis, Serbia. While it’s a positive turn of events for Chege and Mwai, Veronica Mbithe’s campaign ended prematurely. The 29-year-old KDF corporal fought valiantly but lost to Kazakhstan’s Alua Balkibekova in the light-flyweight (48-50kg) round of 32, suffering a unanimous decision defeat.
Despite Mbithe’s exit, Kenya still has seven boxers in the tournament, which has attracted over 500 participants from 40 countries.
Among those continuing their pursuit of victory are seasoned fighters Liz Andiego (light-heavyweight, 75-81kg), Amina Martha Faki (bantamweight), Friza Anyango, Emily Juma (lightweight), and Lencer Akinyi (flyweight).