Online Reporter
Langton Nyakwenda
Zimpapers Sports Hub
BOXERS from regional countries including DR Congo and Malawi will start arriving today for a historic tournament set for Chivhu on Saturday.
In a first of its kind in Zimbabwe with the country staging a mega boxing tournament that will attract 40 international pugilists.
At least 20 bouts will take place at Phil Jen Country Lodges in a tournament dubbed “The Trabablas Gloves On Tournament.”
The Charles Manyuchi Boxing Academy in conjunction with Delta Force, are promoting this bill, which will also see several local stars shining in the Mashonaland East town.
Weigh in is at the venue on Friday morning.
Some of the local boxers taking part include former Africa Boxing Union Lightweight champion Aliyah Phiri and former national Bantamweight champion Tinashe “Chairman” Mwadziwana.
“It’s looking good, the preparations have been going on well, although we are still to tie up a few loose ends,” said Charles Manyuchi, a former World Boxing Council Silver welterweight champion.
Manyuchi is yet to retire from the game that gave him international fame but is also now helping in the development of young boxers.
The former WBC champion has set his sights on establishing boxing academies in Chivhu and Masvingo.
Manyuchi has been promised land to build the academies in both towns.
“I enjoyed my time in the ring and raised the county’s flag in different continents.
“One thing I realized was this sport can help one earn a decent living and that’s why I want to invest my energy on promoting the youngsters.
“I was raised in the community, so I also have to give back to the community,” added Manyuchi.
Among the international boxers arriving today include the highly-rated Simon Ngoma of Zambia.
Ngoma is the number one ranked Lightweight boxer in Africa.
“We also have other boxers from Zambia like Lolita Muzeya, Ali Kabeya from DR Congo and Happy Daudi of Tanzania.
“This tournament has to be big because it’s in honour of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s achievements.
“We also believe boxing as a sport can take kids away from the streets and away from drug and substance abuse,” added Manyuchi.
A spokesperson for the Charles Manyuchi Boxing Academy, Constance Muchoni, reiterated that hosting of the inaugural Trabablas boxing tournament in Chivhu was part of deliberate efforts to decentralise sporting events.
“The Trabablas tournament will be held in all the 10 provinces but the first one is in Mashonaland East.
“The tournament is a regional competition where we are having boxers coming in from across the region, notably from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The Trabablas tournament, is an initiative that we came up with in addition to augmenting the efforts of the Boxing Board and the Ministry of Sports in trying to promote boxers, as part of the national vision of fighting drug abuse, where we are saying, through this initiative, through sport itself, we are encouraging youth to get into boxing as a means of giving them a source of livelihood,” added Muchoni.
