Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) is requesting all professional boxing champions from all the regions in the country to return their championship belts to the regional boxing chairpersons for safe keeping.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (Mana) on Tuesday, General Secretary for MPBCB, Mbachichi Nyirenda said it is within the rules of the game in the country that boxers should have the belts for a short period after winning them and later return the belts to the board.
“Is a normal procedure for MPBCB to recall for the belts, usually when someone has won the title we leave it with him for at least two weeks to celebrate with it then we withdraw it for safe keeping but now they have kept the belts for a long period,” he said.
Nyirenda emphasized the difference on how national belts and international sanctioned bouts are handled, noting that here the promoters do not buy the belts for their bouts they just circulate the same belts owned by the board.
“Back then we were allowing boxers to keep the belts but after one incident where one of our belts was damaged we decided to adopt this method because these items are expensive,” he added.
In a separate interview, sports analyst Anointed Kamsampha said the boxers need to understand and follow the rules set by the governing body for the game to register meaningful progress.
“Boxers need to have good managers and trainers who can guide them to do what is right because this issue has been there for a long time and there may be a misunderstanding between the board and boxers who are holding the belts,” he said.
Meanwhile, in a bid to improve professional boxing in the country, MPBCB will set a technical committee by the end of this month to be overseeing professional boxers in each region.