Catherine to fight German boxer

ZAZAMBIA’S boxing heroine, Catherine Phiri will now face Pia Mazelanik of Germany in the March 15 World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver bantamweight title fight.
WBC picked Mazelamik as Catherine’s next opponent after French fighter, Nadia Hokmi pulled out of the crucial bout last month.
Oriental Quarries Boxing Promotions (OQBP) operations director, Christopher Malunga announced in Lusaka yesterday that Mazelanik, who has won 13 bouts and lost five times, will be Catherine’s new opponent for the WBC title bout set for the Government Complex in Lusaka.
Malunga said Mazelanik had already signed fight-contract and that the two boxers were now waiting for the battle on March 15.
Catherine’s next bout was initially set for January 25 before Hokmi decided to pull out.
“Mazelamik from Germany is the new opponent for Catherine and she has already signed the fight contract. She has 19 fights, 13 wins, one draw and five losses and she is 26-years-old,” he said.
He said Catherine had been given a good opponent because Mazelanik had many fights.
Despite her record, Malunga said, Mazelanik would not be a threat to Catherine because she also had an unbeaten record of six fights.
“The fight will be interesting and the coach Mike Zulu has put up a very good training programme for Catherine and the other boxers so they are ready for their opponents and will not leave any stone unturned,” he said.
Malunga also said Hokmi decided to concentrate on the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title than fighting with Catherine for the WBC title.
The OQBP operations director also revealed that a number of sponsors were coming on board and he was optimistic the budget would be met before time.
“A platinum sponsor has come on board and has given us the money and we are yet to officially announce to the public,” he revealed.
He said Zimbabwean Charles Manyuchi was equally preparing adequately for his opponent Patrick Allotey of Ghana.
There will be three supporting bouts to these two world title fights.
Zambian light-heavyweight Donald Kampamba will take on Zimbabwe’s Wesley MacDade and Congolese welterweight Mbiya Kanku will fight Zimbabwean, Takuzu Kuchocha.
The other supporting bout will have a second women clash involving Zimbabwean Monalisa Sibanda against Zambia’s Lolita Muzeya also in a welterweight division but a non-title contest.

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