Young boxers face off in Sizinda

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter
BUDDING pugilists from the country’s 10 provinces will trade leather at a Bulawayo Amateur Boxing Association (Baba) organised bill set for today at Sizinda South Beer Garden.

The event will be used to select boxers who will represent Zimbabwe at the Zone 4 Games in Mozambique set for February 21-25. A total of 15 boxers – 10 boys and five girls – will represent Zimbabwe in Mozambique.

The regional tournament which is scheduled for Maputo will feature 12 Southern African countries and these are Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Swaziland, Angola, Zimbabwe and the hosts Mozambique.

Last year, the Zone 4 games were held in Angola.

Both men and women will battle it out in the middleweight, lightweight and bantamweight weights among other categories.

Steven Masiyambumbi, the Zimbabwe Boxing Federation technical director said all was in place for what is expected to be an exciting tournament.

“We are ready to host the tournament and we expect the competition to be at the highest level. This tournament will offer boxers an opportunity to qualify for the Zone 4 Games hence we expect the competition to be tough. The Zone 4 Games are very important because they create the perfect opportunity for these guys to make a name for themselves at a regional stage,” said Masiyambumbi.

He said they had chosen Sizinda as a venue because it always drew large crowds for boxing tournaments.

“We have realised that Sizinda is a good venue which always attracts a good turnout from the community. Our aim is to take boxing to every community in Bulawayo and return to the days when boxing was a top sport in Bulawayo. We still believe we can go back to those days. We would like to thank the owner of the venue for being supportive,” Masiyambumbi said.

Some of the top boxers who will fight at today’s competition include Future Maziya, Wiseman Tshuma, Sibusiso Nyoni, Caroline Dube and Zibusiso Nyoni.
— @innocentskizoe