Aborted fight a fuel to my fire: Sarah Achieng’ reacts to missed opportunity

Almost a week to the day when news emerged that Sarah Achieng’s dream WBA Intercontinental championship bout against German boxer Oshin Derieuw in Ingelmunster, Belgium was off, the defending Commonwealth Boxing Council champion has finally gotten over the ‘heartbreaking’ ordeal and intends to come back stronger.

Speaking to Mozzart Sport days after a letter from boxing promoter Marnix Djugardin confirmed the “approval of an alternate opponent” for the February 4 Boksgala event, Sarah ‘Angel of War’ Achieng admitted to being “extremely disappointed” for missing a fight she had looked forward to all of 2022, and that she needed a few days to let the unfortunate events sink in before planning on her next move.

“A punch in the face. That’s what it was,” Achieng’ recalled the moment she received the aforementioned letter on Friday, a week before her fight. “I was heartbroken to be honest. To think that this was not the first time this was happening to me, I had to cool down just a bit to absorb everything.”

Achieng’s trainer Alfred Analo in confirming the finer details of reasons behind her missing the fight, provided details about how their visa applications had been delayed without any proper communication from the embassy.

Achieng’s agent in the UK, Frank Pittal, on his socials however hinted that there was a ploy by the fight promoters to lock Achieng out, especially after watching her obliterate Zimbabwe’s Chiedza Homakoma in a Commonwealth title fight in November. That was her last fight before making arrangements for the trip.

“I have over the years, thanks to my wealth of experience, admitted that pro-boxing is life and business as well,” Achieng said. “At the end of the day, in a world where we have promoters that you can’t really ascertain whether they are genuine or not, you’re left saying ‘I’ll live to fight another day.’”

With time, she has healed and is now setting her eyes on what ahead.

Sarah Achieng set to miss out on prestigious WBA Intercontinental bout

“I will treat this as a motivation,”Achieng’ said. “In as much as I will still go back to get what’s rightly mine [compensation from the promoters], this is a fuel to my fire as I plan for my upcoming overseas fights this year.

“Oshin, an opponent I had vowed to beat, is gone and now we look ahead. I plan to resume training this week in Kariobangi. The dream is still alive.”

It has always been Achieng’s dream to bring a world title home and with doing that, she would be the second Kenyan female boxer to achieve that after former champion Fatuma Zarika.

“I really look up to her,” Achieng’ said of Zarika. “I always go through some of her boxing videos and I have got to interact with her in other forums. We all share another dream – To help and uplift our girls in the community.”

Achieng is a top member of Box Girls Kenya, an initiative geared towards using boxing as a tool to tackle issues affecting young women and girls in the community.

The December 2022 Sports Personality of the month hopes that the institution will grow international someday and achieve greater impact.

Final call from Achieng: “Young pro-boxers in the country should be really keen on who they associate with. Before entering into any partnership or agreement, please do some background check on all individuals including your agents. On top of that, always have a plan B.”