Thamsanqa Dube
Ricky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
BULAWAYO-based heavyweight boxers Thamsanqa Dube and Trevor Mpofu are disappointed with the cancellation of their fight which was supposed to be held this evening in Lilongwe, Malawi.
What further irks Dube, the Zimbabwean heavyweight champion is that Harare based trainer-cum-promoter Clyde Musonda who was organising the bill has not been responding to his calls.
Dube and Mpofu have been training hard since the beginning of the year hoping to trade leather in a challenge match, but lack of funding has seen their scheduled bill cancelled twice before the ill-fated Malawi bout.
They were supposed to fight on March 28 but the bill was moved to April 25 only to be postponed again and later set for Malawi.
Unheralded Mpofu, 22, of Cowdray Park heeded former Pan-African World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Dube’s call for a challenger in January, saying he is ready to trade leather with Zimbabwe’s most feared pugilist.
Since 2011, Dube has been unable to get a challenger locally, getting promises along the way only for his opponents to pullout at the last minute.
Mpofu, who stands at 1.98m, weighing just above 90kgs seems to be the only local pugilist who has guts to challenge Dube, better known as the “Baby Elephant” or “The Tanker” because of his big stature and powerful jabs.
In separate interviews, Mpofu and Dube who are among six Zimbabwean boxers who were supposed to travel to Malawi said they have lost hope of ever fighting each other in the near future.
The other local boxers who were supposed to fight in Malawi are Harare-based quartet of Nicola Mutonora, Tinashe Madzivana, Diana Makumbe and Kudakwashe Chivandire.
“I always had doubts about the Malawi fight and even though I kept training hard, I left room for disappointment.
“Having spent the whole year training without a fight is frustrating but there’s nothing that I can do. I’m used to my fights being cancelled at the last minute and I feel sorry for Trevor. At least Trevor had been in constant touch with Musonda, but I’m in the dark about everything. Musonda hasn’t been picking up my calls.
“I hope one day a genuine promoter, with sound financial backing will be able to stage a real boxing bill that will be a success. Musonda seems to have the ambition to promote my fight but in my own assessment he doesn’t have resources,” said Dube.
Mpofu said he has lost faith in Musonda.
“Obviously I’m disappointed because I knew that fighting and beating Thamu (Dube) would have been a career springboard.
“Now I hear Musonda saying he wants to take me to Malawi in December but I’ve really lost faith in him. He has been talking since January but nothing positive has come out from his promises,” said Mpofu.
Musonda blamed lack of funding for cancellation of his fights.
“We failed to get appropriate funding. I understand the boxers’ frustrations but they should know that I did my best to sort a fight but failed to gather resources.
“As it is me and my partners are planning to hold a small tournament on December 19 in Malawi and Trevor is among four Zimbabwean boxers we’re considering,” said Musonda.