Online Reporter
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ORGANISERS of the KUZANA SCEEZ Sports and Arts Festival boxing tournament have unveiled an attractive seven-bout professional card that is expected to provide a major boost to Bulawayo’s bid to reclaim its status as one of Zimbabwe’s traditional boxing strongholds.
The tournament, scheduled for October 9 at ZITF Hall 3 in Bulawayo, is being organised by Box Africa in partnership with a number of promotions which include Delta Force, Roygri, Lobengula and Mau Mau Boxing.
The event is being staged as part of the wider Kuzana Sports and Arts Festival, which brings together sport and culture and is expected to draw significant attention to Bulawayo during the festivities.
The organisers, senior officials from the Zimbabwe National Boxing and Wrestling Control Board and officials from the Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture recently held a tele-conference meeting to take stock of preparations for the tournament.
Event spokesperson Gilbert Munetsi said significant progress has been made, although he acknowledged that there was still considerable work to be done before the boxers enter the ring.
“Quite a lot of ground has been covered in terms of preparations, but we are not yet at the finishing line,” said Munetsi.
“There is still work to be done, particularly around ensuring that all the logistical, technical and commercial aspects of the tournament are in place. We are, however, encouraged by the level of cooperation between the organisers, the Boxing Control Board and the Ministry of Sport.”
The professional card features seven bouts, with the main attraction being a 12-round national bantamweight title contest between Zvikomborero Chamhere and Ephraim Dzingisai.
The card also features an international women’s super bantamweight non-title contest pitting Zimbabwe’s Sehliselwe Nhliziyo against Botswana’s Dorcas Thabologo over six rounds.
Other bouts will see Tafadzwa Nkiwane face Itai Madongonda in a four-round bantamweight contest, while Manika Tangawabaiwa takes on Emmanuel Chikosha in a four-round heavyweight encounter.
Keith Sithole and Lovemore Madongonda will meet over six rounds in the lightweight division, while Panashe Gadaga and Thabani Gumbi are also listed for six-round contest.
Munetsi said the tournament was more than just simply putting together an evening of professional boxing, arguing that it presented an opportunity to reconnect the sport with a city that once produced some of the country’s most celebrated fighters.
“We are appealing to the corporate sector in Bulawayo to come on board and become part of this story,” he said.
“Bulawayo has a proud boxing history. There was a time when this city was regarded as the stronghold of boxing in Zimbabwe, and the sport enjoyed tremendous support from the business community, spectators and the media.”
Munetsi said the organisers wanted to use the Kuzana tournament as a platform to begin rebuilding that relationship.
“We want to bring back those glorious days when boxing flourished in Bulawayo. We cannot do that alone. We need the corporate sector to identify with the sport and invest in its revival.
“This is not simply about sponsoring seven bouts. It is about investing in young athletes, creating opportunities, restoring a sporting culture and helping Bulawayo reclaim a part of its sporting identity.”
The city has deep boxing roots, having been home to generations of fighters and boxing personalities. Among those associated with Bulawayo’s rich boxing history are Proud Kilimanjaro and Kidd Power
Mutambisi, while former world-class Zimbabwean champion Charles Manyuchi was also born in the city.
Other names associated with the city’s boxing tradition include Ambrose Mlilo, Thamsanqa Dube and Modicai Donga.
For Munetsi, the Kuzana tournament provides an opportunity to connect that heritage with the next generation.
“We have a responsibility to make sure that the young boxer in Bulawayo today can look at the history of the city and believe that he or she can also become a champion,” he said.
“We are therefore calling upon companies in Bulawayo and beyond to partner us. Their support can help us create a sustainable platform where boxing can once again become a major attraction in the city.”
The organisers are also planning to add at least five amateur bouts to the programme as part of a deliberate development thrust.
Munetsi said the amateur component was important because the professional fights alone could not provide the long-term foundation required for the sport to grow.
“We are also looking at having at least five amateur bouts on the programme because we want KUZANA to have a development component,” he said.
“You cannot build a strong professional boxing structure without investing in the amateurs. These young boxers are the future champions and giving them an opportunity to fight in front of a crowd and under proper technical supervision is part of developing them.”
The inclusion of the amateur contests will also give aspiring boxers an opportunity to experience a professionally organised tournament environment while exposing them to officials, coaches, promoters and established fighters.
Munetsi said the organisers were determined to make the event a platform for both entertainment and development.
“We want people to come to ZITF Hall 3 and see good boxing, but we also want them to see the bigger picture. We want to see the sport growing from the grassroots upwards,” he said.
“We have the history, we have the talent and we have the structures. What we need now is for everyone to play their part.”
With the national bantamweight title at stake, an international women’s contest on the card and a planned amateur programme, the Kuzana boxing tournament is shaping up as one of the major boxing events on the Bulawayo sporting calendar.
For the organisers, however, the bigger question is whether the tournament is going to rekindle the city’s longstanding relationship with the sport and inspire a new generation of fighters to step into the ring.
