Take Money frustrated by Mexican opponent

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S top female boxer Kudakwashe Chiwandire has lodged a complaint against Mexican pugilist Yamileth “Yeimi” Mercado to the World Boxing Council (WBC) for delaying submission of a signed contract to facilitate a fight date announcement.

Chiwandire, known by stage name “Take Money” is the WBC Super-Bantamweight interim title holder and is set to trade leather with the WBC Super-Bantamweight world champion Mercado. The fight for the ultimate WBC Gold belt is set for Mexico at a date yet to be announced.

According to Delta Force Promotions, a stable home to Chiwandire, Mercardo’s camp agreed to host the match with the Zimbabwean boxer having signed her contract last month, but to date, Mercado is yet to submit her contract, delaying the announcement of the date for the bill. For international flights, boxers sign their contracts three months before the bill and what frustrates Chiwandire’s camp is that the delay might be designed to catch the Zimbabwean off guard.

Clyde Musonda, Delta Force founder and Chiwandire’s trainer said they are not letting their guard down, with the boxer already preparing for the fight.

“Take Money has intensified her training preparing for Mercado. We’re not allowed to announce the fight date before Mercado sends her contract which we have to lodge with the board. As it is, the fight is supposed to be in mid-March and up to date, the Mexican fighter is yet to give us the contract.

“Knowing the official date will help in terms of knowing when to get Take Money into the bubble (isolation training).

So, we’ve written to WBC complaining about the delay and we await their response. According to our initial plans, Take Money is supposed to start training in isolation on Friday (today) so that she has a month before the fight,” said Musonda.

Chiwandire’s trainer said having signed her contract, the Zimbabwean boxer and Mercado can’t find other opponents before their mandatory fight.

The Zimbabwean boxer got a shot at the WBC Gold belt after defeating Mexican challenger Zulina Munoz at the Harare International Conference Centre in October last year. Chiwandire won the bill that saw the Government intervening at the 11th hour to save the bill and give the Zimbabwean pugilist an opportunity to trade leather at the big stage by taking care of the costs for the Munoz bill.

Winning against Munoz lifted Chiwandire’s rating to sixth out of 168. The Zimbabwean pugilist whose stock has been rapidly rising will now face the world’s number two boxer Mercado. — @ZililoR