St Mary’s Boxing Tournament
thrills residents
I
Gilbert Munetsi
t was a night to remember for
boxing enthusiasts at St Mary’s
Hall beginning late Saturday night
and spilling into early Sunday
morning as spectators were entertained
by the more than 30 boxing bouts that
were on the cards. Boxers drawn
from Masvingo, Chivhu, Harare
Metropolitan and the host city
partook to the “sport of sweet
science” and the platform
provided a platform for a
reunion among the the
forgotten champions,
among
them
Richard and Fay
Hwata, Jeremiah
Chiyangwa, Erick
Sauti,
Tedias
Dzandiwandira and
Jefias Mufayi.
The
tournament
was the first in five
years to be held in the
dormitory city despite
it being home to many
famous personalities in the
fields of sport, music and
other entertainment sectors.
BoxAfrica, a new concept
has come up with a new series
it is still assessing with a view to
taking to other parts of the country
as a way of reviving boxing that has
been in the doldrums for a long time
owing to a myrad of bottlenecks which
include lack of financing, and squabbles
from among the stakeholders of the
sport that was once second to soccer in
terms of popularity.
At one time, boxing would be staged
inside Rufaro Stadium where soon after
Page 44
The Parade - Zimbabwe’s Most Read Lifestyle Magazine
independence for instance, the late
Zambian great Lottie Mwale and Kidd
Power Mutambisi faced each other inside
the ring in an unforgettable 12-round
bout the latter classified as one of his best
ever before his demise a few years ago.
Among the guests present at the
Chitungwiza tournament were former
national heavyweight champion (for 10
years) and Commonwealth trialist Arigoma
Chiponda and current World Boxing
Council
international
welterweight
champion Charles Manyuchi.
The Provincial Administrator for
Harare Metropolitan province, Alfred
Tome, officiated at the event as the Guest
of Honour and had a word of advice for
the young boxers to abstain from drug
abuse, vice and crime. He pledged the
support of Chitungwiza Municipality and
other sister local authorities in uplifting
sport and making it an industry in line
with the Government vision of making
sport a vibrant industry.
“I come from a teaching background
(academic) and know how imperative
it is to integrate sport into our extra
curriculum. Today many countries,
particularly in Europe, have their Gross
Domestic Product premised to a large
extent on sport and with the abundant
talent that we have at our disposal, we
can certainly achieve similar, if not better
things. After all, most athletes that make
it big on those continents come from the
African continent.
“We need to sit down as leaders and
look at reasons why boxing is no longer
as popular as it used to be back in the
day. W ]