Manyuchi set to defend titles early this year

Bridget Mabanda

World Boxing Federation world super-middleweight and World Alliance Boxing Association supreme champion in the same division, Charles Manyuchi, has intimated he will defend his unified titles early this year.

Manyuchi was responding to questions from Zim Now on why it has taken him close to two years to defend the titles when in normal circumstances international boxing sanctioning boards make it mandatory that championships under their banners be defended within a six-month period.

The prodigy - who has also previously held the African Boxing Union, the World Boxing Council and the Global Boxing Union titles - last entered the ring in May 2021.

Back then, he beat Muhammad Sebyala of Uganda by a unanimous points decision, winning both the WBF and inaugural WABA titles. This was at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when Zimbabwe, like many other countries, had imposed a blanket ban on all sporting and social activities.

He, however, got a reprieve from government, through the Sports Ministry, to fight as both WBF and WABA had threatened to strip him if their titles owing to the lengthy period he had then held onto them.

The condition was that he would fight without a crowd. The venue was the Flamboyant Hotel in Masvingo where he had niched his boxing career under the management of Eddison Zvobgo Jnr, his first manager as a professional boxer back in the early 2000s. Zvobgo is the owner of the Regency Group of Hotels, who own the Flamboyant and taking the fight to Masvingo was Manyuchi's way of thanking the businessman.

It is the gap between his victory and defence that has set tongues wagging, with some sectors of the boxing community implying he is either afraid to retire in defeat or he is no longer interested in the sport that gave him fame and fortune as he is now a successful businessman in his own right.

But on Wednesday, he was quick to dismiss the assertions saying:

“I will be defending early this year. Yes, l have the exact dates, but l will only disclose that at a press conference ... you will know the date next week.”

When contacted for comment on Manyuchi's defence issue. Tanzania-based WABA president Onesmo Ngowi could not immediately provide one, saying he is on holiday.

"I am currently touring Serengeti National Park. When l get back to town, l will contact you," he said.

Though he made his professional mark away from home in Zambia, Manyuchi, was the first Zimbabwean to win and defend a WBC title. Nevertheless, his predecessors Proud “Kilimanjaro” Chinembiri, Langton “Schoolboy” Tinago and Arifonso “Mosquito” Zvenyika also raised the country’s flag high, the arrival of Manyuchi on the grand boxing stage was arguably a mark higher.

During his prime a decade ago, he was hosted by the presidency to a State banquet, received a US50 000 monetary token and a diplomatic passport. Literally, he earned the status of poster boy.

With a total 13 belts to his name, it remains to be seen whether he maintains his status, especially with the arrival on the domestic boxing platform of Kudakwashe "Take Money" Chiwandire, who has won and defended the World Boxing Council super-bantamweight championship.

Unlike in Manyuchi's case with the WBF and WABA titles, Chiwandire has been given until next week to inform the WBC of her next opponent and venue. And ironically, Chiwandire is Manyuchi's former student at the Manyuchi Boxing Academy.