Manor to host boxers’ selection contest

Ricky Zililo
MANOR Hotel will today play host to the Bulawayo Amateur Boxing Association’s (Baba) championships that will be used to select boxers to represent the province at the Zimbabwe National Youth Games set for August in Mutare.

Bulawayo provincial coach, Mike Foloma said the city’s seven clubs — Nketa, Lobengula, Nkulumane, Sikhulile High School, Tshaka, Percy Ibboston and HQ One Brigade will take part in the competition.

Foloma has been monitoring boxers’ progress from the three tournaments that Baba has held this year.

Some of the pugilists that caught his eye are Sikhulile High School’s quartet of Prosper Ncube, Mthulisi Dube, Bridget Ncube and Princess Nkomo.

Divisions for the juniors who will participate at the Zimbabwe National Youth Games are as follows: light flyweight (46-48kg), flyweight (48-52kg), bantamweight (52-56kg), lightweight (56-60kg), light welterweight (60-66kg), welterweight (66-71kg), light middleweight (71-75kg), middleweight (75-81kg) and heavyweight (81kg plus).

Bulawayo’s boxing team contributed a significant number of medals to the province at last year’s Youth Games and would be hoping to continue their dominance in the junior divisions.

“We have good boxers that we have been identifying and what we want is to assemble a strong squad that will make Bulawayo proud. The good thing is that we are the only province that has been consistently holding monthly tournaments since the beginning of the year to get our boxers ready for national competitions and we hope to cash in on that,” said Foloma.

“This is the time for clubs or boxers that have not been coming for the tournaments to be seen and we hope they send their boxers because next month we will be finalising our squad.”

The last Baba tournament held in April had seven bouts. At that competition, Zimbabwe National Army pugilist Godknows Sithole based at Headquarters One Brigade knocked out Nketa’s Shadreck Machaya in the lightweight division.

Samson Masiyambumbi of Nketa beat Lobengula’s Assurance Moyo on points in the light-welterweight bout.

Masiyambumbi, Machaya, Sithole and Moyo are expected to participate in the senior categories of today’s competition.

Also expected to trade leather this afternoon are Lancelot Moyo of Lobengula, Edson Mapeku, Tshaka’s Andile Ncube and Wiseman Tshuma of Lobengula.