Domestic boxers’ reputation once again reached its lowest ebb when five Malawians suffered embarrassing defeats in their respective bouts at Hua Lien, Trianon, in Port Louis Mauritius on Saturday night.
The boxers had a night to forget as heavyweight boxer Limbani Lano suffered a third round knockout to South African boxer Ruann Visser in the main bout.
Sounding dejected Sunday, Lano cried foul.
“There was a knock down in the second round due to a powerful punch from me but there was no 10 second count. But when I slipped to the floor, the referee ended the contest and declared my opponent the winner, which was very strange,’’ Lano said.
Lano’s defeat summed up a disappointing night for Malawian boxers after three boxers, namely Mussa Mkwanda, Roy Yuda and Limbani Chikapa, were also knocked out in their respective bouts.
Mkwanda suffered a first round knock-out to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) boxer Lucien Botumbe whereas Yuda was knocked out in 30 seconds against another DRC boxer Steve Kulenguluka.
Chikapa lost in the fourth round to Kenyan boxer Rayton Okwiri whereas Yohane Banda lost to Mauritius boxer Jean Colin on points.
In an interview, Yuda said he was puzzled with the defeat.
“You cannot understand how it happened,” Yuda said in a brief response.
The boxers were expected to arrive in the country Sunday.
Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) Vice President Gift Pasanja was disappointed with the performance of the boxers.
“Although the performance of our boxers is good on the international scene, we cannot rule out foul play. For instance, Lano did well and it was unfair that he lost,’’ Pasanja said.
This is not the first time for local boxers to suffer embarrassing defeats.
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