By Gilbert Munetsi
Harare- CHAMPION boxer Charles Manyuchi who is exiting the ring with 13 titles to his name will bid his Harare fans farewell on 25 November at Heritage Village.
Manyuchi will fight an 8 round non-title bout which will see rising stars including Evans Usayihwevhu show what they are made of.
Seh Calaz will be the headline performer at the show.
Prior to the Harare Grand Finale bout, Manyuchi will this week on Sunday celebrate his 34th birthday with a boxing contest in which he takes on Alick Gogoda of Malawi in an 8-Round non-title bout.
The tournament begins in the evening of Saturday, November 18, and spills into the early hours of Sunday with Manyuchi taking to the ring at midnight.
There are a total 10 bouts on the card, as usual with a regional flair, as a couple of fighters from Malawi and Zambia will also grace the occasion.
Manyuchi’s camp announced they had extended an invitation to Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry though her office was also yet to confirm her presence.
Manyuchi and Coventry share a history in that long before she was appointed Minister, the latter was back in 2014 awarded the Annual National Sports Awards Sports Woman of the Year gong at an event at which Manyuchi won the Sportsman of the Year accolade.
The Chivhu event will be held at Phil-Jen Country Lodges where the Charles Manyuchi Boxing Academy has hosted a number of tournaments in the past.
“The Busy Bee” said he has agreed to take a break from his announced Grand Finale series which will see him bid goodbye to his legion of fans around the country by participating in a birthday bash courtesy of a section of his close friends and business allies.
“When some friends approached me to request that I take part in an event as part of my birthday celebrations, I could not turn them down. Apart from their having supported me throughout my career, I decided there was nothing wrong in entertaining the folk in Chivhu, where we have our academy headquarters, for a second time.
“So I have been in camp for quite a while preparing for my Harare edition of the Grand Finale also happening at the end of this month and I do believe a tune-up fight against Gogoda will do me a lot of good. I had my last fight four months ago and have accumulated a bit of rust which needs to be shaken. I’m grateful for Gogoda accepting to fight me on the night and fans should expect nothing short of five-star boxing entertainment.
“The tournament will also afford boxers from other stables a chance to fight as some have been without a fight for some time. It’s also an advantage for those who missed my last fight in Chivhu to see me in action before I call it quits,” he said.
Arguably the boxer with the most achievements in both pre and post independence Zimbabwe, Manyuchi boasts of 11 championships acquired from a number of world sanctioning bodies which include ABU, WBC, WBF WPBF, UBC, GBU, among others. During the peak of his career, he was able to win the WBC silver, which gave him a top 25 global ranking in the welterweight division, the same in which Floyd “Money” Mayweather was ranked Number One.
Manyuchi also has a farewell fight scheduled for Zambia where he was adopted by Oriental Quarries Boxing Promotions, under whose banner he fought for several years.
“So there have not been any changes per se to Manyuchi’s planned spiking of the gloves which we have dubbed “The Grand Finale” and is coming in series as per the request of his fans across the country.
“And as earlier indicated, we pick up from where we left in Chivhu in July and will come to Harare on November 25. The birthday event is a bonus to his home-folk and those that are prepared to travel for it. There can never be any harm in having that extra,” said Manyuchi’s event manager Monica Cheru.
*Originally published by Zimmow
