Zimpapers Logo

 Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

TWENTY-YEAR-OLD Lobengula Boxing Club boxer Sehliselwe Nhliziyo has been doing shadow boxing to keep herself fit for a professional title bout in Harare next month.

The budding Bulawayo boxer, known by her stage name Smosh Bella, is scheduled to fight Zvikomborero Danzwa on March 6 provided the Zimbabwe Boxing Federation (ZBF) gets clearance to resume activities from the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).

Nhliziyo’s trainer Anderson Sibanda said due to Covid-19 restrictions, he had devised a training schedule whereby the boxer does shadow sessions at home.

“With gyms closed, it’s a difficult period for boxers to keep fit. I’ve been doing shadow sessions with three boxers from my stable that are likely to get international fights once the lockdown is lifted. To complement shadow boxing since sparing has been ruled out, the boxers also do road runs to maintain their weight,” said Sibanda.

Nhliziyo started boxing in 2015 as a member of the Sikhulile High School team trained by renowned coach Mike Foloma. She went on to represent Bulawayo in the 2016 National Youth Games in Chinhoyi where she won a silver medal.

She then joined Lobengula Boxing Club after finishing her O-Level studies in 2018, going under the wing of Sibanda and Pius Samakade.

Nhliziyo moved to South Africa in 2018 in search of greener pastures, but faced challenges in turning professional as that required her to have a permit.

She retraced her footsteps to Lobengula in 2019.

As an amateur boxer, Nhliziyo has 34 fights to her name, notching up 28 wins and losing six. – @ZililoR