The Malawi Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) has backed lightweight boxer Israel Kam’mwamba’s decision to fight in Tanzania last Saturday barely a month after suffering a technical knockout (TKO) in Zimbabwe.

As per the professional boxing rules, a boxer is required to have at least a three-month rest after such a bout to recover.

Kam’mwamba on Saturday lost a non-title international bout to Tanzanian Ibrahim Class Mgender after retiring in the second round at the Mkwakwani

Stadium and suffered another TKO defeat to Issa Aliyah Phiri in Zimbabwe on December 8 2023.

But MPBCB general secretary Mbachichi Nyirenda yesterday said although the rule stipulates that a boxer should be inactive for three months after a fight, there is an exception for one to fight much earlier if he/she is cleared by a doctor.

He said: “Boxing being a combative sport, the rule is meant to protect the boxers, but it is not punitive, it is a tentative arrangement as most boxers avoid undergoing a head scan because it is expensive.”

Kam’mwamba attributed his latest defeat to effects of getting hit in the ribs.

“It was difficult to continue with the fight after being hit in the ribs,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Tanzanian publication dailynews.co.tz stated that a member of Kam’mwamba’s technical panel threw in a towel just at the end of the second round, signalling that his boxer was not able to continue fighting, as such, Class, who was in the red corner celebrated his TKO victory.

After the triumph, Class was quoted by the publication as having said that he was well prepared to overcome his Malawian opponent and that Kam’mwamba was lucky to end the bout in the second round.

“If he continued, he could have regretted coming here to fight against me because I was in good shape and ready for him,” he said.

Kam’mwamba, whose record now stands at 14 wins (nine KOs), 12 losses (seven KOs) and a draw, was the only Malawian boxer who won an international title bout last year.

He won the International Boxing Federation continental lightweight belt.

Class, however, described Kam’mwamba as a good boxer with strong punches and he admitted that in the first round, he received strong punches from the Malawian boxer.

Last week, MPBCB president Lonzoe ‘Defector’ Zimba blamed the recent poor performance of Malawi boxers on the international stage to “compromised match-makers”.

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