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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

BEING on a forced three-year sabbatical due to lack of opponents has left former World Boxing Federation (WBF) Africa heavyweight champion Elvis Moyo frustrated.

World Boxing Federation (WBF)

Known by his stage name “Bulawayo Bomber”, Moyo, who is based in South Africa, has gone for a long time without setting his foot inside the ring.

He last fought in May 2019, losing by a unanimous judges’ decision to Arnold Gjergjaj.

Since then, Moyo has been training to keep fit, but his major challenge is the ballooning weight which he needs to cut off to be eligible to battle it out at the Extreme Fighting Championship (EFC) 100 at the Carnival City in December.

Moyo weighs above 140kg, but to compete at the EFC, the scale has to read 119,8kg.

By his admission, it is difficult to maintain fighting weight when there are no bouts.

Speaking from his Johannesburg base yesterday, Moyo said he has engaged the services of Gauteng-based Fifth Element Promotions to hunt for opponents.

Covid-19

“The problem that I’ve faced since the return of sport after Covid-19 is that opponents don’t want to fight me.

“Most of the heavyweight boxers with better rankings in Africa are here in South Africa but they’ve turned down my challenges.

“I think the reason why they’re chickening out is that they know that they can’t beat me and their rankings will be affected when they lose to me.

“However, not all hope has been lost. Fifth Element Promotions are working round the clock to get me a boxing fight soon which will help me shed off weight ahead of December EFC bill.

“I’ve put on weight, I’m above 140kg even though I’m always at the gym. It’s frustrating to train without commitment for a fight. I’ve always had a reason, which is to fight and now that I’m training to stay fit, it’s not the same,” said Moyo.

He says if he gets at least two fights before December, he will be able to quickly shed off weight.

“Even if I don’t get fights, I should lose weight to 119kg and this will require me to work even harder and revisit my diet,” said Moyo. — @ZililoR