adminGilbert Munetsi
ZIMBABWEAN boxing stakeholders have raised the red flag following a ruling by an arbitrator in favour of a foreign boxer at the expense of a local and continental champion, Aliyah Phiri.
They feel domestic boxing authorities are not doing enough to protect their own fighters as is the norm with other countries, and that the hard work put in by the local boxer, also an African Boxing Union champion at lightweight division, will all but go down the drain.
The furore follows a “no contest” judgement issued by the arbitrator appointed by the Zimbabwe National Boxing and Wrestling Board following a standoff between two parties in a boxing contest between Phiri and Harry Simon Jnr of Namibia.
The match was staged at The Venue in Avondale, Harare, on July 14, 2023 and Phiri was adjudged the winner on a points decision.
However, days later, Simon Junior’s handlers – Lion Heart Boxing Productions – disputed the outcome, saying there were discrepancies surrounding the contest hence the need to reconsider the decision.
This led the ZNBWCB to conduct an arbitration process involving all parties that included the promoter – Delta Force Promotions – and the Phiri and Simon Jnr camps.
The verdict from the process favoured the latter as the arbitrator, Angeline Mudada, from the Sports and Recreation Commission, said the match should be deemed a “no contest”.
This has raised the ire of the local boxing fraternity, with a platform, Boxing Business Contacts, flooded with comments for a whole 48 hours, uninterruptedly, on the matter.
Despite claims by Lion Heart about matters such as weight differences of the boxers and the fight not having gone the distance (among other complaints), the local stakeholders argue why the bout was allowed to go ahead in the first place.
They also question what would have happened had Simon Jnr won the fight.
Issues have also been raised about a good number of Zimbabwean boxers who have been robbed of fights in regional countries such as Namibia itself and Malawi on a home decision basis.
Former ZNBWCB member and general secretary, Thomas Kambuyi took to the social media platform and commented:
“Taking the arbitrator’s route is an admission of guilty on the part of the ZNBWCB.
“It was supposed to deal with the matter on its own. They should have fight commissioners appointed by board members.
“So this practice of having workers from the Secretariat presiding over this is what gets us where we are now.
“There may have been misdemeanour’s on the part of the promoter or the Phiri and Simon camps, but the board has the final say.
“The 3kg weight difference is permissible. The question therefore is, why the fight was sanctioned if it was known there was no board official and not a member of the secretariat present at weigh in?
“We have had the same scenario happening where some boxers contest decisions and the board deals with such.
“They even encourage you to take the arbitrator’s route yet they know the matter would have already been concluded.
“Cases like Tawanda Chigwida versus Jeremiah Chiyangwa, Peter Pambeni and Simon Ngoma, Peter Pambeni vs Phillip Musariri and others are cases in point.
“The board should be seen protecting its boxers. If we are not careful ,we will fight among ourselves and will waste energy casting stones at the wrong enemy when the real problem (the board) is there.
“My appeal to stakeholders is for us to uphold unity and let this be a lesson as we have disadvantaged our upcoming champion, Aliyah.
“We were not supposed to disadvantage that hard-earned victory by Aliya.
“In the first place, is Lion Heart’s licence within the confines of the law? Do the laws of the country allow for the issuance of licences to foreigners?”
While the Phiri camp insisted they had shockingly learnt about the verdict in the press, ZNBWCB programmes Moreways Changa said:
“They have been copied in the same email that was sent to all
Online Reporter