Nation Media Group is grieving.
After 71 wins and one Technical Knock Out (TKO), Richard Mwangi, the champion, our veteran cricket reporter, has been knocked out of the ring.
Richie, who is known to be close to his colleagues, lost to pneumonia after a 12 month battle. The last bell rang at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday.
His TKO was a surprise to the sports table fraternity, because Richie was a strict boxer, who was dedicated to covering cricket and boxing for the Daily Nation for more than 20 years.
One of his favorite stories, which brings so much laughter to the boardroom every time he tells it, is the story when he was a desk reporter for the Daily Nation, covering a large cricket match whose name he could not remember.
That day when the match continued, the sky was open and it was raining heavily, causing the referee to cancel the match when it rained. Richard hurried back to the office with a pen in his mouth, holding his head so that the words did not escape his mind, and sat down to write the story.
As a good reporter should do, he reports that the match has been rained on, and that it must be played back at a later date.
“The next day was hard,” Richie said, holding his notebook with both hands in the way he usually did and adding: “The organizer called me. They were very angry. The first question they asked was ‘Richard, did you have lunch with us?’ Richard, did you enjoy our lunch? ‘
For special effects he always adds an Asian accent every time he tells this story, making it a fresh funny discourse every time he tells a young reporter.
“Richard is one of the softest souls you have ever met. During the 27 years that I have known him as a colleague of sports journalism, I have never seen or heard of him engaging in conflict with anyone. He will debate sports issues, especially boxing and cricket, from an informed perspective, and always ready to help journalists who will come follow and report cricket competently. Grieve to colleagues and their families. May his soul rest in everlasting peace, “said Elias Makori, NMG Sports Editor.
Those who knew him would describe him as a boxing writer, but those who knew him well would say he was a warrior. In his early days, he was a welterweight boxer, and no one made laughter in his eyes like when he talked about the exploitation of his youth boxing.
And he was a warrior in his last days, when he fought bravely against pneumonia for 12 months, sometimes coming to work when it was easier to stay at home. If there is a big cricket match in Nairobi, Richie will be there to enjoy it and cover it.
He is committed to raising cricket standards. And boxing. Towards the end of his life, he questioned the way boxing was managed, mainly because it had been full of wrinkles for several years.
But cricket? That he loves. He can stay patient watching the match with Asian fans at Gymkhana all day on Saturday, then speak excitedly at the weekly board meeting explaining what he sees. He will be missed.
He is passionate about restoring Kenya’s pride in cricket, and has the talent for innovative thinking, visionary zeal, and patience needed to successfully lead meaningful reforms.
Tribute flows for the fallen clerk, and the Nation Media Group’s sports table is led by saying the following about him:
“Calm. Adult. Energetic. It is very sad that the Boxing and Cricket teacher is no longer. Calm, but entertaining whenever needed, Richard always stressed the need for me to understand sport in detail before covering it. He taught me boxing language. Coughing is persistent and not persistent comfortable marking his last days on earth. RIP champ! “Da said