Chronicle Editor
Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Boxing Federation (ZBF) technical director, Steven Masiyambumbi was left overwhelmed by the turnout at a national boxing tournament held at Palace Hotel on Saturday evening while also calling on more females to take up the sport.
Over 160 boxers turned up for the event that saw amateurs and professionals take to the ring. However, there were only four female bouts.
“We invited the whole of Zimbabwe. Everyone from different age groups was invited to take part. Our main agenda was to select the best team to represent the country at the AUSC Games in Malawi this December.
“There is another tournament set for Slovenia which is for elite boxers that we are also preparing for. We had expected to compete against Botswana but they could not make the trip here. That could have helped us measure where our boys are,” said Masiyambumbi.
“I am truly amazed with the turnout. We had expected a few provinces but we had more than 160 boxers attending this tournament and we had to bar some of the boxers who came late in the morning from taking part because we were never going to finish the bouts. It shows that the Bulawayo community was hungry for boxing. Some of the fans were even giving money to the boxers which is an encouragement to them. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of having ladies taking part but we are coming up with projects to make sure we improve female participation,” he added.
Zimbabwe recently hosted the World Boxing Council (WBC) All-Africa Officials Training and Grading Workshop as part of efforts to up the standards of the sport in the country.
The meeting drew delegates from 17 countries — South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Namibia, Cameroon, Egypt, Zambia, Zimbabwe, DRC, Ghana, Mali, USA, Morocco and Ireland. — @innocentskizoe
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter