Mfaume finally receives ECA championship belt

Dar es Salaam. Finally, the country’s professional boxer, Mfaume Mfaume, has been given a new East and Central Africa super-welterweight belt.

Mfaume, who defended the title after outpointing Malawian opponent Chikondi Makawa, earlier boycotted the belt, claiming that it was worn-out and was not the belt he was shown during the weigh-in exercise.

Speaking yesterday, the bout promoter, Seleman Semunyu, said they have given Mfaume a new title belt. Semunyu explained that Mfaume’s demand was not according to the rules and regulations governing the game because he was defending his title.

He said Mfaume was the title holder, who supposed to come with the belt he won two years ago.

“I was disappointed because Mfaume knows it well as we told him before to come with the belt. Tonny Rashid who was defending his African title came with the belt he won before and managed to defend it, why not Mfaume?” Semunyu queried. He cautioned that professional boxing in the country will lag behind if boxers and officials deliberately continue to tarnish the good image of the game despite the fact that they know the regulations.

“What happened during the day is not good for the professional boxing development. It tarnished the game’s image as boxers and officials know the truth of it and are not ready to speak to the public.,” he said.

He said some of the professional boxing promoters are struggling to develop the game, but there are few people, who are discouraging the efforts.

“We need to change in order to develop the game,” he said