Ambrose Mlilo, Gilbert Mambo, Arigoma Chiponda, Ndaba Dube and Nokuthula Tshabangu also moved like lightning through the amateur ranks, with the aim of taking over from the trio. Zvenyika Arifonso weighed in with two Commonwealth titles in the late 90s to keep the flag flying high.
But today, the sport lies in a disastrous state. The heroes are no longer there and that promising generation of fighters has sunk into oblivion. The country no longer has an African champion or even a regional Zone Six title holder.
Why has boxing fallen from grace to grass? Boxer Alfred ‘Danger’ Kwesu points to the low purses offered by promoters. He accused local promoters of being entrepreneurs driven by the desire to maximise profits by exploiting boxers.
“Imagine having your face re-shaped for a $100 prize. What is $100? It is not even enough for medical treatment to restore the face to its original shape,” said Kwesu.
In 1990, the likes of Sam Sithole, Henry Kambani, Kid Power, Chiponda and Joe “Breaker” Makaza rose up against promoters for paying them “starvation” wages.
A year later, handlers of boxer John Computer, were furious with promoter Paul Murinye for offering the fighter Z$30 to defend his title against Ronald Gono. So how come we had good boxers back then?
“Life was different then because even with that little, you could buy something. But not today. You cannot fight for $100. It’s nothing these days. Boxers like Kilimanjaro drove Mercedes Benz cars. You cannot buy a car with $100” added Kwesu.
“I would be comfortable with at least $1000. We fight once in a month or two, so the $1000 would be more like a salary.”
In 2009, Thamsanqa Dube refused to defend his title under the Stalin Mau Mau bill, insisting on better takings.
Promoter Peter Gosha argued that most of the promoters were doing it for the love of the sport and nothing else because they did not get much out of it. He said it did not make sense for him to pay $300 to each boxer in a bill of 10 fights, which would mean him forking out $6,000 on top of other expenses.
“People should not compare the present and the past. In the past there was a lot of corporate sponsorship and people paid to watch boxing, not now,” said Gosha.
Boris Zneider of Bitcon Promotions and Stalin Mau Mau of Mau Mau Boxing Promotions concurred. “When we left the Commonwealth, there was no motivation for the boxers. Fighting in the Commonwealth gave them some financial rewards, but that was taken away,” said Mau Mau.
“Now they cannot fight regularly on the international front. The Commonwealth had strict title qualifying criteria. Today our boxers do not earn their participation. They only fight zonal boxing by invitation. They go there unprepared and they have been battered.”
But is there a way back to the top? “Yes there is, but only if we get corporate sponsorship or government funding because times are hard these days. You cannot expected an individual promoter like myself to fork out $10,000 to sponsor a boxing tournament. No-one is prepared to do that,” said the promoter.
Post published in: Sport