Boxers in war of words
THE first floor of the Joina City Mall in Harare’s Central Business District was yesterday converted into a theatre for a war of words during the weigh-in by heavyweights Elvis “Bulawayo Bomber” Moyo and Didier Knife ahead of their anticipated explosive showdown at City Sports Centre tonight.
The boxing extravaganza will be broadcast live on Kwese TV and StarFM.
The weigh-in attracted scores of shoppers who tried to catch a glimpse of the fighters.
Moyo is the reigning World Boxing Federation Africa champion who is seeking to retain the title when he take on Knife of the DRC in a 10-round contest at the City Sports Centre.
There will also be another tussle for the bantamweight crown on a card that has six bouts.
Congolese Knife, who fights in the Redemption stable in Cape Town and was in the company of his trainer Aaron McKenzie and corner man David Kawitzky, spoke of blood, sweat and tears.
“You know what a knife does, right? It cuts, it slices, it causes blood to ooze out and there is a lot of pain felt wherever it passes through.
“That is exactly what I will do to Elvis tomorrow night (today). But, hold on, I’m not a prophet to tell you how far the fight will go… I can only promise Zimbabweans — whom I have found be awesome people — a real treat.
“To Elvis, my small piece of advice is that you are enjoying the company of all these people cheering you up here today, but when you are in the ring, you will be all by yourself. You have a job of work to do, my brother, especially considering that I have a mission to deal with you and take the belt to DRC.’’
Moyo, buoyed by the cheering crowd, hit back at Knife:
“I’ve been building up this meeting from as way back as 2014 when we squared off in the EFC arena and I narrowly beat you on points.
‘’The general Zimbabwean populace may have given Knife a warm reception and great hospitality synonymous with our people as he alludes to.
‘’But I guarantee him a trip to hospital. I own this belt and it is not going anywhere, it’s not advisable to bring a knife to a bomber fighter.”
Moyo weighed in at 123kg while Knife weighed in at 112kg.
Another Zimbabwean billed to fight for a belt, Tapiwa “Finnix” Tembo, failed to make the weight and was given two hours to do so as per rules and regulations of the sport.
He was on 54.80kg against 53.40 for his Tanzanian opponent Swedi Mohamed.
They are fighting for the WBF Africa bantamweight title which is currently vacant.
Speaking at the event where doctors were in attendence to deal with the participating boxers’ medicals, WBF president Howard Goldberg saluted Zimbabweans for being the “friendliest people I have ever seen in my countless cross border trips.
“The WBF has a presence in 55 countries and I happen to be the only president of an international boxing sanctioning body who is of African descent.
‘’I have travelled extensively on tours of duty and I give credit to people of this country for their love and care.’’
Also in attendance at the weigh-in were members of the Zimbabwe National Boxing Control Board and Econet Wireless represented by country representative Dorothy Zimuto.