Boxing activities not banned

MICHAEL MIYOBA writes @SunZambian THE Zambia Boxing Federation (ZBF) has denied allegations that it has banned boxing activities for the year 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking in an interview, ZBF General Secretary Bright Chomba said the federations has not banned boxing activities as alleged by social media reports. Chomba said ZBF is currently […]

Boxing activities not banned
MICHAEL MIYOBA writes @SunZambian THE Zambia Boxing Federation (ZBF) has denied allegations that it has banned boxing activities for the year 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking in an interview, ZBF General Secretary Bright Chomba said the federations has not banned boxing activities as alleged by social media reports. Chomba said ZBF is currently hosting a two days Provincial boxing tournament is Southern province. He said the federation is still operating under the current health guidelines and would only ban activities if the new guidelines were to say so. “We are still operating and following the guidelines provided by the government from the time we were allowed to resume and once new guidelines come into effect we will follow. “We have circulated the annual plan and the major highlight for this year is preparations for the Tokyo Olympics qualified boxers that will be up to June that’s why we want to intensify preparations,” Chomba said. He said the federations is determined to ensure that the three boxers, Steven Zimba, Evaristo Mulenga and Patrick Chinyemba who qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games are prepared for the Championships in Japan. Chombe noted that the Federation has however cancelled the international championships for Olympic bound boxers because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We had put in some international championships especially to do with countries in the Northern part of Africa, we were supposed to compete in two or three tournaments in North Africa but because of Covid-19 Pandemic we may not be able to compete in those tournaments. “Now we are emphasizing on national tournaments because what we have observed about our Olympic bound boxers they have hammered all the opponents in the midlands so we cannot gage whether they are developing or their performance is going down,” Chomba said. He said National Boxing team coach Wisdom Mudenda will continue to mentor the boxers after they broke camp from Olympic Youth Development Center which has been closed after recording one case of Covid-19. Chomba said the Federation will not neglect the boxers to avoid them losing their fitness ahead of the crucial Olympic Games.