The Sunday Mail
Charles Manyuchi
ZIMBABWE can produce more boxers in the mould of World Boxing Council champion Charles Manyuchi if local fighters are given the right platform to express their talent.
This is the view of local boxing promoter Clyde Musonda of Delta Force Boxing promotions.
Manyuchi is bracing for the biggest fight of his career when he defends his WBC title against Italian Gianluca Frezza in Italy on July 18.
And Musonda, who is slowly making a mark in Malawi where he has been taking local fighters for tournaments, says the only way for local boxing to come to life is through synergies with regional promoters.
Interestingly, Manyuchi has benefited immensely from his association with the internationally acclaimed Zambian boxing promoters Oriental Quarries.
“If all our programs were in order, we wouldn’t be talking of Manyuchi alone,” said Musonda.
“Right now he is the only one up there, no one else to talk about. The prevailing economic situation doesn’t allow local promoters to go it alone. The way forward is to partner regional promoters and stage more fights for our boxers. Synergies are the way to go.”
Musonda is among the organisers of the Knock Out Malaria Malawi tournament, which is slated for the Bingu International Conference Centre in Blantyre on September 26.
The tourney will see six Zimbabwean pugilists taking part in supporting bouts for a World Boxing Union vacant title fight between Malawi’s Wilson Masamba and Brazilian Cid Edson Ribeiro.
Former World Boxing Organisation Africa super middleweight champion Tineyi Maridzo headlines the cast of Malawi-bound boxers.
Mharidzo will fight Karama Nyilawila of Malawi in a super middleweight non-title fight over eight rounds, while Tinashe Madziwane, fresh from a recent fine display in that country, has a date with Zambian Bernad Mwango in the bantamweight category.
Budding heavyweight boxer Trevor Mpofu will slug it out with Malawi’s Alice Gogoda, while Nicola Mutonhora and Sherif Kasongi of the DRC will battle in a six-round welterweight fight.
Ring rusty 33-year-old female bantamweight pugilist Diana Makumbe has been given another shot at making a comeback with a fight against Chinese boxer Hu Die.
Makumbe lost on points to South Africa’s Bukiwe Nonina last weekend on her return to the ring after a three-year sabbatical, but insists she still has the gas to drive forward.
“I am 33 now, not married and boxing is my only source of livelihood. This is the only form of employment I have ever known. If we can have more of these regional tournaments the better,” said Makumbe.
Rising female pugilist and 2014 National Youth Games gold medalist Kudakwashe Chiwandire has a date with Malawi’s Duduzile Kamukwamba in the flyweight category.
