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Langton Nyakwenda
AFTER witnessing a highly successful 2019, which saw Zimbabwe hosting more bouts than any other year in its boxing history, local promoters have promised more fireworks in 2020.
It was a year which saw former World Boxing Council Silver welterweight champion, Charles Manyuchi, reclaiming lost mojo by winning two successive international bouts while Peter “Sniper” Pambeni made history when he won the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Africa lightweight champion.
Pambeni won by a unanimous decision against Albinius “Danny Boy” Felesianu of Namibia in Windhoek on August 10. The WBO is rated among the A-list of boxing sanctioning bodies, world over, with the others being the WBC, WBA and IBF.
A new kid on the block, Gerald Sibanda, a former rugby star also ventured into boxing promotion and introduced his own brand of boxing tournaments dubbed Friday Night Rumble.
“2019 was a watershed year for boxing. We launched the Rumble Nights, which looked at the exclusive VIP market and that was a breakthrough,” said Sibanda, founder of a fast rising sports marketing firm called Athletes Sphere Management (ASM).
Sibanda sees 2020 as an opportunity for local boxing promoters to take advantage of Zimbabwe’s internationally acclaimed resorts like Victoria Falls, to stage “big” international boxing nights.
“After hosting two successful boxing nights, the Friday Night Rumble will take a step further, we have to take it regional.
“We want to bring in big fights to Zimbabwe, we would want to promote big fights similar to what Don King did for Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in the then Zaire in 1974.
“If you look at Saudi Arabia, they are very rich in resources, but they are not very rich in sport if you compare them to Zimbabwe. But they had Antony Joshua and Andy Ruiz fighting for big world heavyweight titles early December.
“Zimbabwe has the Victoria Falls, its international appeal can be used to attract major fights, it’s time for us promoters to think big,” remarked Sibanda.
Top promoter Stalin Mau Mau, regarded is some circles as Zimbabwe’s own version of Don King, has discouraged promoters from sending unbaked boxers on international assignments “for the purposes of money.”
“I am not happy with our results coming out of Namibia, it seems we are going back to the old days when our boxers were used as cannon fodder, or a stepping stones for Namibian boxers,” a worried Mau Mau said.
“We have to look at it very carefully, we are not preparing our boxers enough.
“The issue of money is at the fore front, but remember once you lose, the inflow of money will dwindle.
“I still believe in the peanuts to diamonds principle, you can get as little as possible and build yourself into a real diamond, instead of starting with a fake diamond.”
However, Mau Mau’s boxer Pambeni upset history when he won the WBO Africa lightweight title in Windhoek, a feat that still excites the veteran promoter.
“Generally, we had a successful boxing season, one of the reason is that we entered 2019 on a high after a very successful 2019 and we kept the momentum.
“It was also helped by the fact that more promoters came on board, that meant in 2019 we had more bouts than any other year really which was quite a relief because otherwise since we reignited the sport it was predominantly myself and Manyuchi boxing academy.
“The major highlight was the winning of the WBO championship which was a big achievement. The significance of such wins is that it greatly inspires the current crop of boxers and aspiring boxers,’ said Mau Mau.
The Charles Manyuchi Boxing Academy hosted two international fights at the Harare International Conference Centre in May and September.
Dubbed “Restoration”, Manyuchi’s fight against Pablo Ezequiel Acosta of Argentina, for the unification of the Global Boxing Union (GBU) and Universal Boxing Council (UBC) generated a lot of interest as the former champion sought to restore a legacy that was lost when he relinquished his WBC title to Qudratillo Abduqaxorov on March 25, 2017.
Manyuchi dismissed Acosta after only two rounds to land the GBU and UBC titles at the HICC on May 25 before clinching the World Boxing Federation middleweight belt after knocking out Diego Gallardo at the same venue in September.
“We can safely say 2019 was highly successful for us at Charles Manyuchi Boxing Academy. We managed to stage two big international fights and our boxer Manyuchi won three belts,” said renowned female promoter Prosper Chibaya
Online Reporter