Catherine ready to box, not to date

CATHERINE Phiri says it is difficult to find a genuine partner if one is a celebrity. Catherine, who revealed that she chose boxing over her boyfriend three years ago, said dating was not her priority. “We parted with my boyfriend in 2011 because he did not want me to be in boxing, right now I am single and not ready to date until I complete school,” Catherine who is a grade 10 pupil at Namununga said. Catherine, 22 said proposals for relationships flocked to her but it was difficult to know the genuine one’s. “I decided to change my number because I used to receive funny messages and phone calls asking me out. I have given strict instructions to the people that have my number not to give it out anyhow because some of these men are just after my fame,” she said. Catherine said she would one day want to settle and have a family but with a man that would love her for who she is and not her fame. Asked how she would abstain from sex, Catherine said boxing had taught her to be disciplined. “Sex is in the mind, but I am too busy to even think about it. My training is very tough and after training I have to think of my books so you can imagine the pressure that I have. I have no time for leisure,” she said. She advised girls to concentrate on their careers before relationships. “Look at me; I am free to be in camp for three months without worrying of anything. When I am in camp I have my phone switched off, so imagine the pressure I would have from a boyfriend with all this. My attention would be divided,” she says. Catherine, who is undefeated in nine fights, will be defending her World Boxing Council silver bantamweight title against South Africa’s Bukiwe Nonina at Government Complex on November 22. 

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