Authorities, promoters respond to Boxing fiasco
THE Zimbabwe National Boxing Control Board have dissociated itself from the chaos that marred the recently-held New Dawn tournament with two Malawian boxers stranded in Harare without accommodation and money for their trip back home.
The duo, Aubrey Masamba and Eneless Nkahwanthi, endured four days in Harare waiting for their money which they received in local currency and was short of the agreed amount in their contracts.
Board chairman Richard Hondo in a statement yesterday said his team had nothing to do with the fiasco as the deal was between the promoter, Kalakoda and their local agent, Clide Musonda of Delta Force Boxing Academy.
He said owing to the foreign currency constraints that the country is currently facing, the agreement with Kalakoda, who are based in Cape Town, specifically required them to settle purse obligations for all foreign boxers in hard currency and in accordance with the deal, the foreigners who took part were not paid through his board.
“The information we have is that these boxers, namely Eneless Nkahwanthi, Aubrey Masamba (both from Malawi), were paid through Mr Clide Musinda in accordance with the agency agreement he signed with Kalakoda.
“The board was not involved in this arrangement. As you will recall, the Board had earlier revoked Mr Musonda’s licence for having entered into agency agreement with Kalakoda illegally.
‘’Please note that the purse settlement story that has appeared in the press refers only to the two Malawian boxers, not the other two foreign boxers from the DRC (Knife Didier) and Tanzania (Swedi Mohamed), who were also paid directly by Kalakoda.
“The source of the purported non-payment story concerning the two Malawian boxers was the same and this clearly vindicates the Board’s action in de-registering this man. Many people thought the Board was being unfair to him,” the administrator said.
The promoters late yesterday evening issued a statement clarifying their own side of the story.
One of the directors, Saul Loggenberg said all the boxers’ purses has since been settled in full.
“We were working with a local partner who was responsible for managing purse payments for the undercard bouts. This partner withdrew the evening before fight night leaving a series of challenges.
“However, working closely with ZNBCB we were able to make a part payment in bond notes and later settle the balance by bank transfer once we were back in South Africa.
“Payments made from abroad are subject to exchange control which has been the only time delay. We apologise to all fighters who experienced a short delay in payment and would like to reiterate that appropriate measures have been taken to ensure this situation is not repeated.
“We are hugely passionate about pan African boxing and consider the welfare of all fighters involved in Kalakoda-related events with the greatest degree of importance.
‘’Kalakoda looks forward to working with the ZNBCB team to promote Zimbabwe’s vibrant boxing scene in the future and providing a necessary platform for the nation’s emerging boxers.’’