adminthe highly-rated international boxing promotions company had expressed interest to work with the newly elected Paul Nenjerama-led board which, initially, would have comprised two world titles followed by quarterly tournaments.
A research director at Audrey Golden Associates in Manhattan in the United States and also a lawyer by profession, Mendy claimed that a recommended Zimbabwean promoter, who had been tasked with handling the deal ceased communication seven weeks before the scheduled dates, thereby stalling the process.
Mendy presented e-mails confirming communication what had taken place between the named promoter, International Boxing Federation president Onesmo Ngowi and himself. “Shortly after Layla McCarter (35-11), a fighter trained and managed by my friend Luis Tapia, defeated South African champion Noni Tengein Tenge for the WBA female Light-Middleweight World Title in September 2012, I had an epiphany. Why not use Layla as the main event for a fight to help re-ignite boxing in Zimbabwe?
“I contacted a colleague of mine in Zimbabwe whom I have done business with, and was really excited to hear about the new developments taking place in Zimbabwean boxing. At the same time, I convinced my partners to come along and support my conception of either a monthly or quarterly fight series to be promoted by Lion Heart Boxing Productions in Zimbabwe.
“My Zimbabwean friend, who was appointed to serve on the new Zimbabwe National Boxing Control Board, indicated that he was not personally in a position to involve himself in promotion as per the boxing Act, and recommended that we rope in an independent promoter.
“One of them was referred as a consummate professional and a great facilitator. As I trusted such judgment, we performed only cursory research on him and were pleased with the outcome and, also, my partners were particularly impressed with his fundraising efforts to support the Zimbabwe national soccer team.”
Mendy said Lionheart Boxing Productions entered into a formal contract with the promoter to have him serve as their Zimbabwe partner, using one of three standard agreements Lionheart Boxing Productions uses when partnering with another promoter in a new market.
“In this case, Lionheart Boxing Productions executed with the Zimbabwean promoter, a consulting agreement. The agreement was reached in March 2013, and we started working together in earnest to make the proposed fight series in Zimbabwe a reality. Personally, as the person who worked directly with him, I was impressed by the guy and the brilliance of some of his ideas, and I concurred with most of them.
“As a result, I had Lionheart Boxing Productions put a rubber-stamp on most of his suggestions. For example, in deference to him, we removed the McCarter bout from the card and replaced it with the IBF-Africa Heavyweight championship featuring Francisco Zulu (19-2) of next door Zambia against my protégé, Big Fred Kassi (17-2) of Cameroon. Further, we stacked the under-card within Zimbabwe and regional fighters and numerous title fights, including two Zimbabwe national titles, a couple of Southern Africa titles and a couple of IBF Africa continental titles,” Mendy said.
Mendy, who is Gambian by birth, said things were going very well when, without warning, the Zimbabwean team suddenly became unresponsive.
“Despite our best efforts (Lionheart Boxing Productions and IBF Africa), we just could not get the team to comply with mutually agreed-upon deadlines or IBF deadlines because we are schedule driven.
“To make matters worse, we could not reach the Zimbabwean team to correspond to develop alternatives. It was complete radio silence. I was at a complete loss as to the actions of the Zimbabwean team and ran out of explanations for my partners, the IBF and the fighters that we had committed. What was supposed to be a key pole in the further development of African Boxing overnight turned into an embarrassment. To this day, I remain puzzled by the turn of events.
“It is Lionheart Boxing Productions’ hope that all is well with your countrymen. Maybe there are reasons why they went silent, but it is important that they had highlighted the problems so that we could have helped each other solve the problems,” Mendy said.
He said they remain steadfast in their belief in African Boxing and plan to continue to support the IBF’s efforts to make Africa a boxing powerhouse.
“We stand with the Zimbabwe boxing community and are committed to making the little contribution we can to the Zimbabwean story, even if it is only in helping to revive boxing in the country.
“We are convinced that boxing can contribute to Zimbabwe’s economic development as it can provide a steady source of income for fighters, provide an additional avenue for positive international media coverage of the country, and contribute to the country’s sports tourism potential.
Lionheart Boxing Productions is an integrated and full service global boxing sports and entertainment company that has produced boxing events on three continents, namely Africa, North America and the Oceania. It was established in 2002, in New Orleans, Los Angeles, and it began producing a version of the Thursday Night Fights at the New Orleans Club TwiRopa.
This development comes against the backdrop of similar sentiments to help revive the sport in Zimbabwe by the World Boxing Organisation Africa president, Andrew Smale, who has committed himself to come to the country, at his own expense, and help set up structures.
The South Africa-based award-winning and widely-travelled Smale maintains that all he wants is an invitation from both the new board and the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, and he would be on the next plane to Harare.
Online Reporter