FORMER World Boxing Council interim super bantamweight silver belt title holder Kuda Chiwandire has promised another celebration time for Zimbabweans when she takes a crack at the WBC International title.
The Zimbabwean has won the right to challenge India’s Urbashi Singh for the WBC International belt and it has been agreed that the two will enter the ring on December 15 at a neutral venue of Malvern Town in Malvern, Victoria, Australia.
Chiwandire’s trainer and manager Clyde Musonda says Australian promoters are bankrolling the bout, which has been given the greenlight by the World Boxing Council.
Chiwandire herself is unmoved by the challenge ahead and says she is going into full scale training and will prove another point on the day of the fight.
“I am now used to the pressure associated with such fights. My training will determine the outcome of the fight but I promise we are going to reach where we want to go and without fail,” promised Chiwandire.
The WBC international title is the third in the WBC perking order below the gold and the silver but has its weight in the fact that its holder can challenge for the gold belt.
Musonda says Chiwandire only needs to win the WBC International belt to guarantee herself another challenge for the WBC gold title which is still in the hands of Yemileth Mercado of Mexico.
“Kuda is on three-and-half stars rating by the WBC. If she wins against Singh, she will get into four stars which will qualify her to challenge for the gold belt once again,” said Musonda.
Last year, Chiwandire challenged Mercado but was not disgraced in defeat after lasting all the 10-rounds despite countless problems which also saw her arrive in the city of the bout venue on the day of the fight instead of two or so days earlier.
The Zimbabwean has been itching for a rematch with Mercado and the path she has taken could be the right one back to her dreams of taking the WBC gold title — the ultimate prize in the division.
Chiwandire made the whole world sit up and take notice after she travelled to Zambia and pummeled the legendary Catherine Phiri to claim the interim WBC silver belt.
As if that was not enough, Chiwandire won a bruising 10-round battle against the highly ranked Mexican Zulina Munoz to claim the right to then challenge Mercado for her WBC gold belt.
She is one of the only two Zimbabweans alongside the legendary Charles Manyuchi to hold a WBC belt although critics argue that the Manyuchi one carried more weight.