IT’S barely three months since 23-year-old boxer from Chiredzi, Nyasha Hwata, turned professional but he has already bagged two wins.
Hwata had his first light welterweight professional fight against local boy John Andrew in the first match of the trilogy series of Manyuchi Boxing Farewell tournaments in Chivhu at the end of July.
Last month, the rising pugilist beat Terrence Muronda from Mbare-based Legends Boxing Club at The Rise of Champions II Tournament in Borrowdale, Harare.
His next port of call is Lilongwe in Malawi where he faces Henry Kapeni on November 5.
The dream for Hwata is to become a world champions, but he is not getting ahead of himself because there is a lot of work to be done on the local stage.
“In my career I have managed to win two professional games, which is good for me. I want to keep winning so that I can continue building my profile in order to have a national title fight as soon as possible,” Hwata told The Sports Hub.
“My biggest dream as a boxer is to be a famous world champion boxer and walk in the footsteps of the likes of world champions Manny Pacquiao and Canelo Alvarez just to mention a few,” he said.
The boxer, who grew up in Bulawayo before moving to Chiredzi where decided to take up a career in boxing, has only been in the sport for six years.
“I have always wanted to be a boxer from when I was young and I was inspired by the country’s top boxer Charles Manyuchi after watching him raise the country’s flag through boxing.
“I started boxing when I went to Chiredzi. since then I had to put more effort in fulfilling my dream to become a profession boxer. This is just the beginning of great things to come,” Hwata said.
Hwata who is part of the Sugarcane Boys Stable is coached by Freeman Mabvongwe, who is also a professional boxer.
Mabvongwe is excited about what the future holds for Hwata having started together in Chiredzi.
“We started working together with Nyasha in 2017 back in Chiredzi. We were both amateurs then even though I had more experience than him. "Coaching came naturally with me because I was taught very little, but I managed to improve myself because of my determination.
“I started helping other guys like Nyasha and Tafadzwa Mushando. I then moved to Harare when I turned pro so I thought it was best to bring my team here because there are more opportunities and fights compared to where they were.
“Tafadzwa was lucky because he was signed by Ali Otto Phiri at Otto Boxing Club. Nyasha remained amateur for a while as we improved him with more fights and he recently turned pro when Charles Manyuchi promoted his fight in Chivhu in July. He has won his two fights and you can tell that he has a great future,” Mabvongwe said.
Mabvongwe appealed for more financial support for Hwata so that he can achieve his boxing dreams.
"We have a good number of individual sponsors mainly from Triton Gym in Chisipite and we also have one keen corporate called Web Mining. However, we are still keen to get more hands in order to push financial stability for Nyasha to further his dreams and career as a boxer," he said.
Hwata attended Mgoqo Primary School and Mandwande Secondary School in Nkulumane, Bulawayo.