Southern Times
22 November 2010
Harare – Paulus Ambunda takes to the ring on November 25 in defence of his World Boxing Organisation Africa title which he has so far managed to hold onto since claiming it in October last year.
With an impressive 13-0 record  (seven of his fights victories by KnockOut)  the 30 year-old Namibian pugilist faces a challenge from Zimbabwe’s Tawanda Chigwida who has partaken to the ring the same number of times.
However, the latter has succumbed to three defeats and drawn once in a professional career which spans close to a decade.
He is a product of the Fly High Boxing Academy based in Epworth, a boxing-rich poor settlement on the outskirts of Harare.
Chigwida is not a new traveller to Namibia, having undertaken his last assignment at the Kuisebmond Community Hall, where he fought and lost to Gottlieb Ndokosho by a unanimous decision in the fourth round.
This will be his third international fight. He has also lost to Zambia’s Godwin Mutampuka at home in Zimbabwe.
But the spotlight will next Thursday be on Ambunda who, since claiming continental supremacy in the bantamweight division, has so far sent three fellow countrymen to the canvass with his vernomous glove.
His first casualty was Tommy Nakashimba, followed by Tendani Munyai, before Klaas Mboyane became the latest victim in the champion’s last successful defence bid on July 24 this year.
Though he is yet to face an opponent from another country, life is expected to be a lot easier for him, given that he will be fighting on home soil and before a supportive crowd.
Confirming the grand forthcoming fixture scheduled for the Windhoek Country Club and Resort, WBO Africa President Andrew Smale, said from his Johannesburg base this week that he would be travelling to the Namibian capital this weekend to assess the preparations done so far ahead of the duel which will also be the main drawcard.
‘What I can confirm is that yes, we have given Zimbabwe a second shot at a WBO title, after the super middleweight being held by Tineyi Maridzo also from that country,’ said Smale.
Sporting relations in the area of boxing between Windhoek and Harare had of late soured bit following a medical reports scandal in which three medical documents of Zimbabwean boxers were alleged to have been tampered with.
It is mandatory – according to rules and regulations governing the sport – that boxers be tested for HIV and hepatitis B before they fight.
The trio of Isaac Phonkeni, Livingstone ‘Master’ Kachigwada and Tinashe Madziwana failed a second medical test done in Namibia ahead of an Independence Day Celebrations tournament which had been put together by Nestor Tobias of Sunshine Boxing Promotions.
Then, most Namibian promoters vowed to distance themselves from engaging in contracts with Zimbabwean managers for fear of exposing their boxers to ‘potential health hazards from uncertified opponents.’
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Education, Art, Sport and Culture in Zimbabwe, David Coltart, has instituted a second commission of inquiry into the incident, amid reports that more scandals bedeviling the sport of boxing in his country continue to be unearthed.
Coltart, who this week said he was ‘appalled’ by more new revelations, has asked the Director-General of the Sports and Recreational Commission, Joseph James, to compile a full report to be presented to him as soon as possible.