The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
CHARLES MANYUCHI has been named 2021 World Boxing Federation (WBF) ‘Male Fighter of the Year’, after successfully defending his middleweight title during the period under review.
The news was broken on the sanctioning body’s website on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old Manyuchi retained his WBF middleweight belt after defeating Ugandan Muhamad Sebyala, via a unanimous decision, at the Flamboyant Hotel in Masvingo on July 3.
The fight was nearly knocked out by Covid-19, until Government eventually sanctioned the world title bout at the eleventh hour.
Manyuchi had not defended the title since September 2019, when he clinched the belt after a knockout win against Diego Gallardo at the Harare International Conference Centre.
There were fears that Manyuchi would be stripped of the title, for failure to defend it within the stipulated six months.
But that speculation was put to rest when the WBF exonerated the Zimbabwean champion.
The sanctioning body made it clear they were aware the Covid-19 situation had affected the staging of boxing matches.
