Byo Bomber first fight in three years
SOUTH Africa-based former World Boxing Federation (WBF) Africa heavyweight champion Elvis Moyo’s forced three-year sabbatical due to lack of opponents is expected to come to an end after he signed a contract to fight America boxer Eddie Chambers.
Known by his stage name “Bulawayo Bomber”, Moyo who has gone for three years without setting his foot inside the ring, having last fought in May 2019, losing by a unanimous judges’ decision to Swiss boxer Arnold Gjergjaj, signed his contract for a November fight yesterday in Johannesburg.
The Zimbabwean boxer and Chambers will trade leather in Namibia on 12 November.
In an interview from his Johannesburg base yesterday afternoon, an elated Moyo said: “I’ve signed a contract to get back into the ring and take off some rust. The guy I’m fighting is Eddie Chambers from the United States of America and has about 53 fights to his name.
“Right now I’m trying to get my weight down. I’m going to push eight rounds despite them giving me short notice for this fight, they said they’ll give me another opportunity to fight against a Nigerian opponent around 17 December.
“I’m not complaining about the short notice, because the whole idea was about me shrugging off the rust and prepare myself for the future fights as I stayed long without fighting. I’m training three times a day to quickly get myself in better shape,” said Moyo.
Moyo presently weighs above 140kgs.
The Nkulumane bred pugilist said he will start sparring sessions as he wrestles to get his fitness.
Moyo vowed to knock out Chambers.
“You know I bring drama to the ring, it’s going to be an entertaining fight and I’m going to try and knock him out. One thing for sure is that I’ll hurt him, I’m going to introduce him to Africa and show him how solid we are,” said Moyo.
By his admission, Moyo said it is difficult to maintain fighting weight when there are no bills.
“The problem that I’ve faced since the return of sport after Covid-19 is that opponents don’t want to fight me. Most of the heavyweight boxers with better rankings in Africa are here in South Africa but they’ve turned down my challenges. I think the reason why they’re chickening out is that they know that they can’t beat me and their rankings will be affected when they lose to me.
“However, I’m looking forward to fighting Chambers and I’ll do all I can to make this opportunity count,” Moyo said. - @ZililoR