MPBCB accepts Masamba apology, sanctions his ABU fight
The Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) has accepted Wilson Masamba into its fold despite the boxer insulting president Lonzoe Zimba.
Masamba, who previously was aligned to Malawi Boxing Association (Maba), accused the MPBCB president of sabotaging his scheduled African Boxing Union (ABU) super lightweight fight against South African boxer, Kaizer Mabuza on June 23 in Maputo, Mozambique.
But he has apologised, saying he accused Zimba out of ignorance.
“The truth is that boxers affiliated to Maba cannot fight for ABU or World Boxing Council [WBC]. I apologise from my heart to Mr. Zimba. He should take it into his heart to forgive me,” said Masamba.
He has since written MPBCB seeking to be accepted to fight under their umbrella.
In an interview, Zimba confirmed receiving Masamba’s written apology and request to rejoin MPBCB.
“Like I always say, as MPBCB, we are not targeting people when we say boxers belonging to AIBA are not eligible to fight WBC, ABU, International Boxing Federation [IBF], World Boxing Organisation, but only at Olympic Games,” said Lonzoe.
“I know boxers are sometimes misled, that is why we have accepted Masamba’s apology. We don’t want to stand in his way and we have issued him with an MPBCB licence so that the promoter can proceed with the fight. If we had delayed, the match makers would have been forced to find another opponent for Mabuza.”
