Masamba narrowly beats Kayuni: Malawi boxing

Malawi’s 28-year-old celebrated boxer Wilson ‘Hard Hitter’ Masamba on Sunday, March 29, 2015 posted a narrow victory over upcoming Malani Kayuni, 24 as the two boxers squared it up in an eight-round non-title contest that attracted a huge crowd at Lilongwe Community Centre.

Sponsored by Lilongwe based boxing outfit New Dawn Boxing promotions, which staked K100,000 for the winner and K80,000 for the loser, the bout lived up to expectations as the two fought a close contest throughout the eight rounds.

From the first to the last round, no boxer had clear advantage over the other although Masamba looked more aggressive. Mayuni, young brother to Osgood ‘The Punisher’ Kayuni was not in his usual attacking mood as he mostly resorted to holding his opponent.

After eight rounds of a close contest, two of the three judges declared the bout a draw with the third giving Masamba a narrow 80-79 victory.

Masamba was delighted with the victory after the bout: “I dedicate this victory to my bosses at Malawi Defence Force (MDF). They allowed me to prepare for this bout for two months and it’s because of the good preparations I had that I have been able to win this match,” he said soon after being declared winner.

His opponent, however, disputed the outcome, claiming he was the one who produced more scoring punches: “I am surprised with the charges’ decision. Masamba never bothered me throughout the eight rounds and I am the one who threw more scoring punches,” said Kayuni.

The young ‘Punisher’ defended his style of holding the opponent, saying: “Yes, I was holding but what people should know is that holding is allowed in professional boxing. It is a tactic used by many professional boxers,” said Kayuni.

Before the bout, there were supporting bouts involving amateur and semi-professional boxers but it was the main supporting bout involving Kudakwanji Banda and Mussa Mkwanda, which was the talk of the afternoon.

Throughout the six-rounds that were fought by the boxers, fans were kept on their toes as the Mchinji based pugilists exchanged hard and fierce punches. On more than three occasions, Mkwanda had to be forced down to the canvas by Banda’s hard punches. The worst befell Mkwanda in the last round when another hard punch from his opponent forced him out of the ring.

The boxer fell awkwardly on the ground but as everybody feared for the worst, he stepped back onto the ring and beat the count before continuing with his business. Thank God, the bout was just seconds away from the final bell.

Managing Director of New Dawn Boxing Promotions Mike Chimaliza, speaking after the bouts said he was happy with the way things went.

“I am satisfied with the way things have gone. Almost all boxers involved displayed good skills and the attendance was very good. We only have to improve in time management because some boxers reported late, resulting in the final bout being affected by darkness,” said Chimaliza.

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