The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
THE 2020 Olympic Games would have been kicking off in a month’s time had coronavirus not ravaged planet earth.
Initially, scheduled for Tokyo from July 24 to August 9, the quadrennial sporting extravaganza was postponed to 2021, due to the coronavirus outbreak. Had they not been postponed, the 2020 Olympic Games would have kicked off minus Zimbabwean boxers, for the sixth consecutive edition.
The last time a Zimbabwean boxer qualified for the Olympics was in 1996, when Alexander Kwangwari and Arson Mapfumo represented the country at the Atlanta Games.
Mapfumo is late, making Kwangwari the last surviving boxer to represent Zimbabwe at an Olympics gathering.
The former light middleweight boxer, who stays in Chitungwiza and was nurtured by the Zimbabwe National Army, is now the national amateur boxing coach.
But he is a worried man.
Although no boxer from Zimbabwe has qualified for the Olympics in the last 24 years, Kwangwari is convinced the country has immense boxing talent at grassroots level.
However, he fears lack of sponsorship could scupper the sport’s future.
“I have travelled to many countries and I have seen young boxers from other countries and what I can assure Zimbabweans is that we have better talent than most of these African nations.
“Zimbabwe is a boxing goldmine.
“As a nation, with proper support, we have the capacity to grab world titles in the future. But, the sad thing is that there seems to be lack of financial support for amateur boxing,” Kwangwari said. The current economic crisis, worsened by the Covid-19 scourge, has bled most Zimbabwean companies, most of whom are now withdrawing financial support for sporting disciplines. The Zimbabwe boxing team that went for the Olympic qualifiers in Senegal in March, had the worst preparations in comparison with other teams from various African nations.
They camped at Kwangwari’s house, with scarce food and when they finally boarded the plane to Dakar, they could not afford a decent kit.
Brendan “Boika” Denes (lightweight), Ndabezihle Phiri (flyweight) and Freeman Mabvongwe (lightweight) represented Team Zimbabwe and reached the quarter-finals at the Dakar qualifiers.
“We never had a proper camp prior to the Dakar qualifiers. We had no sponsorship; I stayed with the boxers at my house.
“I even used my personal money to help the boys, feeding them at my house. Even the kit, we struggled to have a decent one,” a worried Kwangwari said.
“But, with such kind of preparations, we went there and competed against other teams which had camped in foreign lands for a long period.
“We even reached the quarter-finals. So it shows you we have the talent. But what draws us back is lack of sponsorship.”
The Zimbabwe Boxing Federation, who are the custodians of amateur boxing, had lined up a number of programmes this year, but these were put on hold because of the coronavirus.
“We wanted to take the boxers to France for another shot at Olympic qualification, but now everything has been stopped.
“Most of our programmes have been stopped, I had a team that I was training, but now I have to send them the training programmes over the phone.
“I also have some boys that I was training here in Zengeza, from the junior level up to the seniors, but we have had to stop,” said Kwangwari.
A long-serving boxing expert who holds a Star 2 coaching qualification — which is the second highest badge — Kwangwari also spoke about the demise of heavyweight boxing in the country.
Ever since Proud “Kilimanjaro” Chinembiri dominated Africa in the 1980s, no Zimbabwean heavyweight pugilist has won an international belt.
“We have potential future heavyweight boxers, but because of lack of sponsorship at amateur level, most of the boys are rushing to turn professional without getting the necessary basics.
“We had Vincent Muziri, he was good, but because we had no tournaments, he became idle and ended up turning professional prematurely.
“Some promoters are also taking advantage of these uncooked boxers, they take them to foreign tournaments to make a quick buck at the expense of the boxer’s development.
“The future could be bleak if we don’t get support, these boys need tournaments at amateur level. They need motivation.
“We also have Tashinga Manyika from the Zimbabwe National Army, he is a very good prospect at heavyweight level. Farai Makombe of Matabeleland South is a good middleweight boxer and so is Anele Sibanda, who is still only aged 22.
“There is Beven Sibanda, a good one also. What these boys need are tournaments and proper training. That requires money which we are not getting.
“I must also thank the provinces for cooperating with us. They have all their boxers registered and they have proper structures.
“Structures are important in amateur boxing just as much as tournaments are also crucial. We need more big tournaments like the National Youths Games which have continued to unearth hidden talent.
“We all know that Charles Manyuchi, our biggest boxing brand at the moment, came through the National Youths Games,’’ Kwangwari said.
