Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
BOXING, wrestling and mixed martial arts stakeholders have expressed optimism that their sport codes will see a massive turnaround in the year ahead.
This follows the first ever annual meeting recently convened by the Zimbabwe National Boxing and Wrestling Control Board in Harare whereupon the parastatal sought to iron out issues which have been impeding the growth of combat sport in this country.
While Zimbabwe has previously been consistent on the world boxing map with fighters like Charles Manyuchi and Kudakwashe Chiwandire, especially outstanding, the year 2025 was a bit indifferent with no local boxer having a shot at any of the highly regarded belts in the world.
The ZNBWCB chairperson Vee Chibanda said: “We are very confident that 2026 will be a fruitful year for combat sport.
“We have lined up a number of our athletes for internationally acclaimed events and that should put us in good stead in terms of recognition.
“We just held our first ever AGM and that platform laid out what we all intend to achieve in 2026. We are hopeful that we will revive combat sport in this country in a remarkable manner.”
Priscilla Kadungure, the chief executive of the ZNBWCB is also optimistic of the future.
“As a parastatal we needed to have this AGM and we can now see the light.
“We invited auditors who presented their findings before all the stakeholders and we are all sure that we will be turning all the negatives into positives going forward.
“What we want to see at the end of the day is success in combat rings. With what’s on the ground now, we see no reason not to believe in ourselves.”
Renowned boxing promoter Stalin Mau Mau last year hosted two tournaments and he is looking to have more this year.
“You know I promised to do more in 2025 but there are a lot of circumstances which betrayed me and I could not honour my promise to the boxing fraternity in the country but I am going to show you as long as I live, I told you I will only retire from boxing when I die so 2026 is another year we’re looking forward to having so many tournaments,” said Mau Mau.
“We are looking to getting more sponsorship and definitely, there will be more tournaments in 2026. But even if we don’t get the sponsorship that we are expecting, we will still have more tournaments.
“I am happy we have so many committed promoters coming up like Ali Phiri, Charles Manyuchi and Clyde Musonda.
“At the end of the day it’s boxing that is benefiting. I can only encourage others to come aboard the ship for the good of the sport.”
Wresting superman Jonathan “Mr Matt” Muvingi said Zimbabwe will be hosting a lot of professional wrestling tournaments this year.
“Look, we would like to thank the board (ZNBWCB) for their unwavering dedication in seeing to it that all sport codes under their umbrella are taken care of.
“All along we have been battling to get standard rings but we now own several and I can confirm that we will be hosting international tournaments in 2026,” said Muvingi.
“It’s looking good and we will be introducing the sport in schools, villages, suburbs and farms.
“We foresee the sport becoming very popular with Zimbabweans in 2026.”
