All now set for Manyuchi fight Charles Manyuchi
Charles Manyuchi

Charles Manyuchi

Gilbert Munetsi Sports Correspondent
ALL is now set for Charles Manyuchi’s epic dream to claim to the World Boxing Council silver welterweight title with the global sanctioning body yesterday announcing the panel of referee and judges who will handle the fight. Manyuchi faces Russian Dimitry Mikhaylenko at the DIVS Palace of Sports, Ekaterinburg, in the main bout of the night that has four supporting matches on the card. We are five hours behind Russia.

A triumph on the Zimbabwean’s part partly fulfils his dream of fighting the A-rated boxers who are ranked in the gold class, among them Kell Brook, Frankie Gavin, Sam Eggington and Bradley Skeete.

The crown Manyuchi and the Russian are tussling for was left vacant by British boxer Amir Khan. The WBC yesterday announced that Mike Griffin from Canada will handle the fight, with the judges’ panel comprised of Russian Alexander Kalinkin, Barry Lindenman from US and Lateef Muiss from Nigeria.

The supervisor is Vladimir Laptev, also from Russia, assisted by fellow countryman Oksana Semenishina Lithuania. Speaking from the Russian city yesterday, Manyuchi was upbeat about the fight which he said he is dedicating to his promotion and management company, Oriental Quarries, and the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Makhosini Hlongwane, for having brokered the deal that re-united him with the former.

His only disadvantage, he told Herald Sport, were the extreme cold weather conditions, but he had acclamatised and was ready to roll. Also known as Yekaterinburg, the venue of the fight is a metropolitan (with a population estimated at 1.3 million people) and is located between two continents — Europe and Asia, stretching along the Ural mountain range.

The fortunate thing is that while Manyuchi finds the weather conditions (currently hovering around 4 degrees celcius) harsh by the standards of one coming from Africa, this is the best season for a region whose temperatures usually drop to as low as -16 degrees.

The weigh-in is scheduled to take place today and there are no fears of the Zimbabwean failing to meet the scale limit as the intensive gym workouts he has undergone have enabled him to shed off most of the excess fat accumulated as a result of the long lay-off.

He is using his assistant coach Greetings Kaonga as his sparring partner. Asked about his prediction of the outcome, Manyuchi said: “I’ve prepared for 12 rounds and whoever is not strong between the two of us will go down and the one who endures will have the privilege to wrap the belt round his waist. But I will do the best for Zimbabwe, Zambia and Africa.”

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