The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda —
CHARLES MANYUCHI temporarily broke camp in Zambia last week and dashed back to Zimbabwe to visit his ailing sister.
The 27-year-old Manyuchi is preparing for his WBC International silver welterweight title defence at the OCBC Arena in Singapore on March 25 against Asian champion Qudratillo Abduqaxorov of Uzbekistan.
However, Manyuchi put all preps on hold last week after his sister, Thulisile (19), was hospitalised in Chinhoyi and placed on life support after falling to stomach pains and respiratory problems.
The boxer rushed back home in the company of his manager Chris Malunga last Tuesday before returning to his base in Zambia on Friday after Thulisile showed signs of improvement.
Manyuchi’s sister has since been discharged from hospital and the boxer said his preparations for the title defence were back on track.
“Yes, I was a bit disturbed by my sister’s illness but that will not distract me. I am focused 100 percent towards defending my title in Singapore,” said Manyuchi.
His father, Ottis, was also confident Manyuchi would take everything in his stride.
“The boy wasn’t even supposed to come here but when he heard news that his sister had been put on life support, he immediately came back. His sister was feeling dizzy and sometimes she complains of stomach pains. She has been released from hospital though,” said Manyuchi’s father.
Ottis, a former boxer himself, said he was sure his son would retain his WBC silver welterweight title.“Charles is a strong boy; I know he will overcome this family problem and go on to beat his opponent. I have been studying his opponent’s record and it is not that scary. I believe my son will win the fight,” he said.
The 23-year-old Abduqaxorov, who is the WBC Asia Council welterweight champion, pushed his record to 10-0-0 when he defeated Idd Pialari of Tanzania in Singapore on February 10.
He has also improved his world ranking from 108th to 77th; while Manyuchi remains the third best WBC welterweight boxer and is number 24 out of 2 220 boxers on the global list covering the four major recognised international boxing sanctioning bodies – the WBC, IBF, WBO and WBA.
