Boxers to go through psychological tests
No Pain No Gain Promotions chief executive officer Craig Rousseau has declared that local boxers will have to pass psychological tests to be considered for international bouts.
The decision follows last week’s scenario that saw heavyweight boxer Alick Gogodo being at the centre of a fist fight that involved his compatriots Robert Kachiza, Tinkhani Kamanga and Chikondi Makawa during a party in Namibia after they suffered knockout defeats in international bouts.
The boxers belonging to different local boxing stables were sponsored by No Pain No Gain and Zimbabwe’s Delta Force Boxing Academy to fight in Namibia as a way of exposing local talent on the international stage.
“From now onwards, we will only be giving chance to boxers that pass a psychological test. Moreover, their behavioural background will also be scrutinised to avoid some embarrassing moments like the one we experienced in Namibia,” Rousseau said.
Meanwhile, Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) president Lonzoe Zimba told The Nation yesterday that they have shifted a disciplinary hearing of the boxers from last weekend to next weekend.
“We failed to meet for the disciplinary hearing last weekend because we could not have all the boxers at one place. But now we have summoned all the boxers involved to a hearing this weekend,” Zimba said.
According to media reports, Gogodo got into a quarrel with Kachiza after having ‘one too many.’ However, the argument exploded into a fight and when Kamanga and Makawa tried to intervene, Gogodo also confronted them physically.
Gogodo’s manager Mike Chimaliza of New Dawn Boxing Promotions bemoaned the behaviour of his boxer. n
