TINASHE “Chairman” Madziwana had to summon all his prowess and experience to defeat a dogged Jeremiah “Jingo the Master” Mhere and successfully defended his national super bantamweight title in an exhilarating bout at the Showgrounds in Harare in the early hours of Sunday morning.
BY HENRY MHARA
The fight was the major highlight of an exciting bout card that had a total 11 fights and also saw Brandon “Boika” Dennis beating Israel “Money Machine” Kamwamba of Malawi) in an international lightweight grudge match.
Gypsite Sports Promotions, together with Delta Force, promoted the fights.
It was the main bout though between Chairman and Jingo the Master that produced the fireworks, with the excited fans showing their full appreciation as the two had a go at each other from the first round to the last.
Chairman, the more experienced of the two, had predicted a knockout win against his rookie opponent, and while he dropped Jingo the Master in the ninth round, he could not finish him off.
The champion had to push hard in the ninth round in response to a battering that he had received in the previous round, one of at least three rounds that Jingo the Master dominated.
“It was a good fight for us and the supporters. The fans enjoyed that. He gave me a good fight, but in the end, I outclassed him,” Chairman said.
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“The plan was to knock him out, but after round three, we changed the plan because we realised that the opponent was tougher than we had anticipated. His camp planned well, and the fact that he took me all the way shows that he is a good boxer. I wish him all the best in future, but next time, he should box his class,” Chairman added.
After the successful title defence, Madziwana is now eyeing a shot at the African title.
“The next step is an African title. We are going to sit with my managers and my sponsors Gypsite Electronics and Contractors, and map the way forward.”
Gypsite hosted a similar event last year and the company director Clemence Zingoni is promising more exciting tournaments next year.
“We are going to continue supporting boxing. We wish to take boxing to other cities next year. Overally, we were happy with this event. We would like to advice that there would be a lot of exciting bouts next year, including bringing in international boxers. We realised that people love boxing, and we have a good crop of boxers coming up. The main bout was competitive and Chairman used his experience in the end to win the bout. Jingo Master gave him a run for his money though.”
Last year, Gypsite gave Chairman a brand new Toyota Hiace and $2 000 as part of his winning purse.
“We cannot divulge the purses because of contractual issues, but what I can confirm is that they (participants) smiled all the way to the bank. Gypsite is grateful to all the stakeholders who attended, in particular the boxers, the promoters and the fans. Special mention also goes to the media for the publicity they gave to the event.”
In the main supporting act, Boika was given the win on a technicality after Money Machine got a deep cut on the face in the third, and due to excessive bleeding, he couldn’t continue with the fight.
