Stings Like The Bee He Is

By Perkins-Tino Bare

Charles Manyuchi defied all odds again on Friday night as he pummeled Russian Dmitry Mikhaylenko once again having to do it away from home as he won the bout in Russia. Manyuchi showed again why he`s destined for success as he defeated Dmitry Mikhaylenko to become the new World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight silver champion. The win came through a unanimous decision as the judges scored the fight 116-114, 118-110 and 115-113 all in favor of the Zimbabwean.

The Russian was undefeated as before the match he stood at 21-0 but that all changed as after 12 rounds of boxing Manyuchi once again stood victorious. The win then means Manyuchi is now on possession of the belt previously held by the British fighter Amir Khan who might just put his name to try and reclaim it once again after he lost his own which measn he relinquishes the bronze category he previously held.

The fight was staged in Russia on Friday and it left twitter buzzing with praises for Manyuchi as he continues to impress. Manyuchi`s away record is quickly becoming impressive as he now stands at 18-1 with 11 of those coming through knockout as he`s now on 15 straight wins stretching back to July 2010.

Manyuchi admitted that the fight was difficult for him but he rather decided to accredit his team Oriental Quarries Promotions for the win “It was a very tough fight. The guy was an animal. We tried different strategies and the first was to try and knock him in the first three rounds, but the guy refused to go down. We had to try plan B up to round seven, but I almost went down myself. We had to change the plan again. It was like a war, but I eventually managed to win. I did it for my country and Zambia and Africa. We have made it as a team. I’m happy because I’m now more popular than the quail bird” he said in an interview with a local daily.

“The fight was very tough than all the fights I have fought before, but I was so determined to win and gave it my best to make Zimbabwe proud," he said in an interview with a local publication. "I'm very happy that I've won the World Boxing Council welterweight silver title. I'm dedicating this win to Oriental Quarries Boxing Promotions. We work as a team and we won this belt as a team. I'm happy we are champions, my coach, my manager and my promoter and I'm going to keep focused so that we continue to go up as a team,"

The win then sees Manyuchi relinquishing his welterweight belt as he`s now the silver champion having previously been the bronze champion whilst Amir Khan was the silver champion before he relinquished it to challenge for the WBC middleweight belt where he was knocked out by Canelo Alvares the following day.

This then puts Manyuchi in good stead as he`s well in line for a big profile fight. One of those prospects is that Amir Khan might just want to reclaim his title again which would see him challenging for the WBC welterweight title currently held by our own Charles Manyuchi. Hailing from Masvingo, Manyuchi surely made the nation proud and once again a sporting product is Zimbabwe`s biggest export as it stands.

His team confirmed the developments of a fight against Amir Khan being amongst the prospects for the

Zimbabwean boxer. “This belt that Manyuchi has won has got more demand,” his manager, Malunga said. “Amir Khan is dropping back and I know he wants to claim it back. There are a lot of challengers for this belt, including Khan after he was knocked out in his last fight. He will try to get back to his belt. This has more challengers. The next fight will be for bigger money. From there we would want him (Manyuchi) to fight for the gold title which would bring investments and forex for this country as well as Zambia. The boxer is well-behaved, he has completely changed. He will go very far,” Malunga later added.

“We are doing it for Africa and everyone is happy that he won. We have been receiving calls even from (South African) President (Jacob) Zuma congratulating us. The next fight is a voluntary defence and I had promised the Head of State President (Robert) Mugabe that we have to do a promotion here and we have to do it. I feel the fight must be here. Charles has to defend the title in this country. It would be nice for Charles to do it in his backyard because it will motivate a lot of young boys and girls. The voluntary defence we choose who we want to fight before we go for the mandatory, so I feel the voluntary defence should be held here in Zimbabwe and we will work hard to make sure it happens.” he later added in that interview with a newsdaysport.

The next fight being set to be a big one for Manyuchi as he`s now starting to command value, he has decided that he wants his next fight to be staged home in Harare and he`ll certainly not be dissapointed as the City Sports Centre or the National Sports itself look to be possible venues. 17 000 fans out at the City Sports or 60 000 out in the National Sports Stadium, Manyuchi is surely one destined for greatness.

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