I am now ready to fight— Chilemba
S outh Africa based boxer Isaac ‘Golden Boy’ Chilemba has said he has fully recovered from his elbow injury and is ready to bounce back into the ring.
The former IBO super middle-weight and WBC light-heavyweight champion suffered a career-threatening elbow injury when he faced Ukranian Aleksandr Gyvozydyk in a North American Boxing Federation (NABF) light heavyweight title which forced him to retire after the eighth round in November last year.
“I am fit and sound now and in the process of looking for a fight,” he said.
“In principle, I have the go-ahead from the doctor who operated on me in New York, US, and will be getting a clearance letter soon but if he needs me to travel there for the final check-up, I will do so.”
The 30-year-old said he is currently in Melbourne, Australia, where he is sparring with 14th ranked Blake Caparero who is preparing for a title fight.
“I am excited with the development and after the sparring sessions I have undergone here [in Australia] and Canada, I feel great. I am in shape and raring to go,” said Chilemba who boasts 24 wins (10 TKO), five losses (one TKO) and two draws.
Chilemba, who has dropped nine places to 19th in World Boxing Council (WBC) lightheavyweight rankings, said his immediate target is to get back into the top 10 “and then I can take it up from there because it has to be one step at a time.
“But I am looking forward to bouncing back better and stronger.” Tw o y e a r s a g o , Chilemba was ranked second but back-to-back defeats to Sergey Kovalev and Eleider Alvarez saw him drop eight places to 10th and his loss to Gyvozdyk coupled with a long lay-off, saw him drop further to 19th.
His loss to the Ukranian was his first through TKO. Local boxing promoter Mike ‘Bangwe 1’ Chitenje tipped Chilemba to bounce back stronger.
“ H e h a s a s t r o n g character. He has that hunger and determination that helped him to scale lofty heights and those attributes will see him pull through,” he said.
