Pros boxing body to invalidate Maba licences

The Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) will this year invalidate professional boxing licences that boxers and promoters obtained from the Malawi Boxing Association (Maba).

MPBCB president Lonzoe Zimba told The Nation on Tuesday that after the nullification of the licences, boxers and promoters will be required to apply for the same from his board, which was recently delinked from Maba following Malawi National Council of Sports directive.

Zimba said individuals holding MPBCB licences will be eligible for bouts sanctioned by organisations such as World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and African Boxing Union (ABU) while those with Maba certificates will be eligible for fights approved by International Amateur Boxing Association (Aiba).

“It is, therefore, up to the boxers and the promoters to choose where they can get their licences from, but no one will be allowed to be affiliated to both entities after these changes,” he said.

The MPBCB boss added that they will hold an executive meeting next month when they will decide to buy new boxing belts that will replace the existing ones which belong to Maba.

Maba general secretary Arthur Nanthuru said they have no problem with the MPBCB arrangement since they are now separate entities.

“They (MPBCB) are free to do whatever they want since they are no longer our affiliates. However, we will do everything possible to make sure that boxers and promoters fully understand how things will be like in the boxing circles,” he said.

The council directive to delink MPBCB and Maba followed Aiba’s recent clash with the world’s professional boxing sanctioning bodies. The other bodies were angered by Aiba’s decision to set up own professional boxing board responsible for taking boxers to the Olympics.

Following the fall out, Aiba asked Maba through council to delink themselves from professional boxing.