Online Reporter
Lovemore Dube, [email protected]
GWANDA-BORN Wezi Chirwa will take to the ring on March 14 in a six-round boxing contest in Mogogelo in South Africa’s North West Province.
This will be the boxer’s fifth professional fight, and he is hoping to secure what would be his fourth career win.
Chirwa is confident as he prepares for his next challenge.
“I am working very hard in the gym and doing all one has to do ahead of a fight. I am just out of the gym where I was working with coach Xolani Moyo.
“I think my preparations have gone well so far and all point to a good performance on the evening,” said Chirwa.
Chirwa will face South African opponent Manqoba Magubane over six rounds.
He believes he is progressing steadily in the professional ranks and hopes to wear a championship belt in the future.
“I am working so hard so that one day I will be a champion. I want boxing to take me places,” said Chirwa, who revealed that he was encouraged by a friend, Admonish Mthunzi, to take up the sport.
Initially, the pair had planned to pursue wrestling, but when they arrived at the gym, they discovered that only boxing was available — and that became the beginning of Chirwa’s passion.
Chirwa had 57 amateur fights across several weight divisions, suffering only six defeats and securing 10 knockouts.
He believes that experience gave him the maturity needed to turn professional.
“I had 57 fights, I was at a position where turning professional was proper progression in the sport,” said Chirwa, who regularly switches between orthodox and southpaw stances to unsettle his opponents.
Most boxers struggle to defend against a switch-hitter, as it becomes difficult to predict which hand the next jab or punch will come from.
“I tend to switch in the ring, though I am used to fighting as a southpaw boxer,” said Chirwa.
Chirwa is among a growing crop of boxers from Matabeleland South who have worked hard in recent years to elevate the sport in the province.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the region produced notable fighters such as Destroyer Bonyongo and Lotus Dube, both now deceased.
