Lovemore Dube [email protected]
BIGFISH Boxing Promotions head, Modicai Donga has commended the launch of the Kuzana Sports and Creatives Economy Expo.
The event was held in Bulawayo with conferences, boxing and a music shows preceding the Dynamos and Highlanders clash at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday.
Donga whose boxing stable came at the last minute after the withdrawal of Gilbert Munetsi as promoter, said the hosting of the expo was a welcome development for sport and creative industries.
“This was good initiative and I hope all who attended learnt a great deal. Equipped with the sharing of ideas from a diverse background of attendees, we can take Zimbabwean sport to the next level. I could not be there but from colleagues who attended some of the activities and conferences, sport and arts were the big winners. Hopefully going forward we can build a better environment for our sports and arts to develop their industries and be bigger employers,” said Donga from his Eswatini base at the weekend.
Kuzana is a Nambya/Kalanga ‘verb’ that means to play.
The Ministry of Sport and Nhimbe Trust came up with the concept and both worked hard to bring it to Bulawayo.
Donga said now that the expo is dusted, he has accepted a challenge thrown to him for Bulawayo and regional boxing.
“It’s a challenge accepted. This is the time to get back to the ground and revive professional boxing in Bulawayo, we can only do that and achieve it by having regular tournaments. Boxing has been dying due to lack of active promoters. This has been the first professional boxing tournament in over a decade,” said Donga.
He said when he was asked last week to step in by the board, he consulted friends, family and the boxing community who assured him support.
“I was approached at the last minute and after consulting friends, family and boxing community, we took up the challenge. It was good a night of boxing which was attended by many boxing fans. With that kind of support, we cannot go wrong,” said Donga.
He said Bigfish Promotions will stage a very big tournament next month to launch the real return of professional boxing events to Bulawayo.
“After the Kuzana Boxing Extravaganza, we can assure Bulawayo that we have a tournament lined up for next month. When I was growing up there was a lot of professional boxing events hence I was persuaded to join boxing. We have to do these things as a business and also in honour of people like Jeff Dube and Phillip Striker of Rampage Ring Promotions,” said Donga.
Several boxers from Bulawayo like Thamsanqa Dube, Nokuthula Tshabangu, Fredrick Chisoro, Ambrose Mlilo, Vincent Muziri, Ringo Star and Trust Ndlovu have been national champions.
In the tournament’s main fights last Friday at Kuzana, 22-year-old Manika Tangawabaya started his professional boxing career with a first round knockout of Emmanuel Chikosha.
Chikosha was forced to eat humble pie after describing the Deltaforce heavyweight as a fat calf at the weigh-in ceremony on Thursday.
The younger boxer was ecstatic after his short piece of work in the ring.
“It was an easy fight, I am happy, I knocked him out, he was talking too much,” said Tangawabaya.
In a super bantamweight contest, Tafadzwa Nkiwane knocked out Itai Madongonda in the first round.
