NAIROBI, Aug. 17 -- Former Kenyan international boxer on Thursday decried the falling standards of the game in the East African nation, saying the former boxing powerhouse ought to go back to the drawing board to arrest the decline.

Samuel Otieno, 55, who played for Kenya's national team christened "Hit Squad" during the country's glory days in the sport, told Xinhua in Nairobi that attempts should be made to broaden the national league to include as many boxers as possible.

"Currently there are only three teams playing in the national league. This has locked out many boxers from the game and in the process leaving only a handful of pugilists to ply their trade in the sport," Otieno, who retired in the welterweight category lamented.

Presently, there are only three clubs from the county's disciplined forces of the Kenya Police Service, Kenya Prisons Service and Kenya Defence Forces that have been left to compete among themselves in the national league.

Kenya's decline in boxing started in the 1980s after several state corporations that sponsored boxing clubs folded the outfits owing to structural adjustment programs, leaving only the three aforementioned clubs in existence because their employers are capable of funding them.

Prior to that, Kenya had a fearsome boxing team that competed with the best and won titles at major international competitions.

"Mismanagement of boxing and biased national team selection criteria have been the malaise that saw the standards of the game plunge to low depths locally. Currently I train young and upcoming boxers but I worry for their boxing future if more clubs do not come up and if they don't join the disciplined forces," Otieno said.

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