MANYUCHI LOSES 20KGS
WORLD Boxing Federation (WBF) middleweight champion Charles Manyuchi’s Zambian trainer Greetings Kaonga said he was impressed by his boxer’s commitment and hard work.
Manyuchi’s spirited performance on Saturday evening enabled him to emerge victorious via a Unanimous Decision (UD) over Muhammed Sebyala of Uganda at the Flamboyant Hotel and has given hope that the WBC belt could once more return to Zimbabwe.
The victory also saw him winning two other titles -WABA World Supreme and WPBF-. Manyuchi was training under the watchful eye of Kaonga for over a month and from the work they did, they managed to produce results although Kaonga admits it did not came on a silver platter.
“The journey was not easy. Charle (Manyuchi) was overweight so I had to bring him back to shape. He lost over 20kg in a space of one month, so you can imagine the work that was put in here,” Kaonga told H-Metro.
“It was work, work all the time. There was no time to play. The boxer was ring rusty so we needed to work on a lot of things.”
Although Manyuchi’s camp was expecting to knockout Sebyala, the stubborn Ugandan denied Manyuchi a 15th win via a knockout record.
Manyuchi’s winning records now stands at 25wins with 14 knockouts.
“We were preparing for 12 rounds and we would train up to 15 rounds. For him (Manyuchi) to hold up to 12 rounds, it was good for us as the technical team because we managed to assess the weaknesses as we prepare for the upcoming matches.”
Manyuchi had gone for over 20-months without tasting the ring. His title defence match was initially slated for April 2020 before it was postponed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
While the match was then set for July 3, Zimbabwe was affected by another surge of Covid-19 cases that saw all sporting activities being suspended. However, Manyuchi received a special waiver from the government to be able to defend his title as there were also fears that he will be stripped off the title as the period set for one to defend a title was almost over.
However, the other supporting bouts were suspended.
“For the other matches to be suspended, it was really a psychological strain to my boxer because you would want someone who can warm up the stage for you. But still, there is Covid-19 and we need to follow the protocols and regulations so that we remain safe,” he said.
Manyuchi lost his WBC silverweight title through an infamous first-round knock-out at the hands of Uzbek boxer Qudratillo Abduqaxorov on March 25, 2017 in Singapore.
“We have some few fights coming up next, but we are targeting the WBC title, that’s why we are working hard.”
The match was attended by the Principal director in the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Dr Benson Dube as well as the director of sports in the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Eugenia Chidakwa who made sure that Covid-19 protocols were strictly adhered to.
No fans were allowed.