Kayuni negotiates K200 000 pay
Osgood Kayuni of the Malawi Defence Force (MDF) stable has negotiated a K200 000 ($500) pay in his junior welterweight title fight against Charles Misanjo.
The fight will take place on March 8 at Wakawaka Hotel in Lilongwe.
Kayuni was initially denied a K150 000 (about $375) contract offer by Gomez Boxing Promotions.
“This is a title fight and I am the reigning champion. As such, I have the right to negotiate for a better pay. Even the K200 000 (about $500) is not enough for a boxer of my calibre, but I understand that promoters in Malawi do not have a steady financial bases, so we settled for K200 000,” said Kayuni.
He said the other reason he accepted the fight was because he did not want people to think he was afraid of Misanjo.
“Misanjo is no match for me, but I have accepted to fight him just to shut him up. Some quarters thought I was afraid of Misanjo after my defeat at the hands of Limbani (Masamba) that is why I agreed to this fight. The truth is that Misanjo is not of my level,” said Kayuni.
Kayuni has since started camp training at Kamuzu Barracks gym where he is being assisted by fellow MDF boxer Crispin Moliati.
Challenger Misanjo, who is set to pocket K100 000 from the fight, has warned Kayuni not to dwell on past glory.
“He (Kayuni) was once a formidable boxer, but has lost the touch and I do not think he can last five rounds,” said the Mchinji-based boxer.
Gomez director Gomezgani Mwandira has promised a clean fight.
“We have put in place measures to ensure that there is no bias and the referee should not be partial. We have history of fights ending in controversy. We do not want to spoil our name. Boxing is becoming popular again as we saw the high turnout during the Chiotcha/Masamba fight organised by New Dawn Promotions. We want to maintain such patronage,” said Mwandira.
