Aubrey Masamba, Eneles Nkhwanti in Zimbabwe defeats
Two Malawian boxers, Aubrey Masamba and Eneles Nkhwanti, suffered defeats on Friday night at the City Sports Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Aubrey was knocked out in the third round whereas Nkhwanti lost on a unanimous decision despite impressing in the early rounds.
Zimbabwean Tinashe Mwadziwana easily dominated the fight against Aubrey, who was slow to react.
The Malawian, fighting in an unfamiliar weight category, was knocked down four times in three rounds.
Aubrey, who normally fights in the flyweight category [50/52 kgs], was thrown into a heavier category of featherweight [57kgs].
It was not surprising that he struggled with endurance as he was given inadequate time to prepare.
Following the win, Mwadziwana has improved his record to 15 wins including nine knockouts and 12 defeats whereas Aubrey’s record dropped to eight wins and five defeats.
Similarly, Nkhwanti, who normally fights in the featherweight category [57kgs], fought in the lightweight category [61 kgs].
Even though she started impressively against Zimbabwean Monalisa Sibanda, Nkhwanti failed to maintain her rhythm. She consequently lost on a unanimous decision.
Local matchmaker, Steve ‘Mawenzi’ Msiska, commenting about the defeats, said the decisions are debatable.
“It is not wrong for boxers to fight in different weight categories. However, as matchmakers, we should not force a boxer to fight in different weight categories when we have other boxers that are fit to fight in a specific category.
“In this case, the pairing was poor, no wonder our boxer suffered a painful and shameful defeat. Much as the boxer pocketed a good package, there is cause for concern because his record has been compromised. We could have done better if we had selected a boxer who is good at the weight category in question,” Msiska said.
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