Tamuka out of big fight

ENGLAND-BASED Zimbabwean boxer Tamuka Muchapondwa suffered a Valentine’s Day heartbreak after being forced to pull out of tonight’s British welterweight title fight against German national Freddy Kiwitt after a chest infection.

The 12-round bout was scheduled to take place at York Hall in London.

Ironically, Muchapondwa was originally scheduled to box the defending champion John O’Donnell at London’s O2 Arena before the Irishman pulled out of the fight a few days ago because of injury.

Announcing the cancellation of the scheduled 12-round bout yesterday, a distraught Muchapondwa said it would be very unfortunate for him to go into the fight knowing he is not 100% fit.

“I am truly gutted and sorry to announce that my English title fight against Freddy Kiwitt this Friday has been called off.

‘’I contracted a very serious chest infection on Monday and have struggled to shake it off since and with it being such a big fight, my team feel that it would be a huge and unprofessional risk to go into the fight with my health and fitness at less than 100%.

“I would like to extend my apologies to Freddy Kiwitt, his team and Haymaker Boxing for any inconvenience this has caused... If you purchased tickets, please contact me for refund information.”

This is the fourth time Muchapondwa’s attempt at landing the English welterweight title has been dashed as on three occasions, O’Donnell, the previous opponent, has pulled out of the bout citing injuries.

Only a week ago, O’Donnell pulled out of the big fight citing injury with the promoters bringing in Kiwitt as the replacement.

Muchapondwa, who has lost only one of his 17 professional fights, however, hopes to be fit to compete against Josh Kelly on the Anthony Joshua-Joseph Parker bill in Cardiff on March 31.

“Fighting in front of 80 000 fans in Cardiff on March 31 will be a dream come true, but at the moment I will concentrate on getting my fitness back,” he said.