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WORLD Boxing Council welterweight silver champion Charles Manyuchi climbed into the ring in Lusaka, Zambia, Saturday night and gave his Tanzanian challenger, Deogratias Samwell a boxing lesson in a non-title fight as he intensifies preparations for the biggest boxing show in this country for years.

Manyuchi used Saturday’s fight to prepare for his voluntary defence of the WBC welterweight silver crown which he won in style after beating Russia’s Dmitry Mikhaylenko in his backyard.

That sensational victory in Russia underlined Manyuchi’s status as one of the best pound-for-pound welterweight boxers in the world today, part of an elite group of sportsmen who fight their way to the glory that comes with being a master in this brutal but fascinating sport.

It was his second victory on European soil, having beaten Italian boxer Gianlucca Freeza with a superb show that thrust him into the spotlight as one of the finest boxers in his category around the world.

But Manyuchi, and the Zambian promoters who have been backing him, want more.

They want to reach the pinnacle of their sport, where all the big money is, a multi-million-dollar industry that has transformed those good enough to box their way into that elite band of fighters into some of the richest sportspeople in the world.

There is no doubt that Manyuchi is special and that he has, so far, made his name fighting away from home, either in Zambia or in Europe, because it’s never easy to work your way up the ladder in boxing fighting away from your backyard.

Now, for the first time in his career, Manyuchi is bringing his show home on September 30 when he faces Frenchman Damien Martin in a mandatory defence of his crown.

It’s the biggest fight that has been held in Zimbabwe for more than two decades and has the potential of single-handedly breathing interest, among spectators, in a sport which has lost the Midas Touch which used to woo thousands of local fans into its corner during the hey days of boxing in this country.

Back then, the likes of Langton “Schoolboy” Tinago, a three-time Commonwealth champion, the late Proud “Kilimanjaro” Chinembiri, who came within a fight of battling for the world title and Stix McLoud charmed hundreds of thousands of boxing fans in this country by fighting some of the globe’s finest boxers in this country.

But since they left the scene, interest in boxing in this country has taken a lull with fans of the sport being starved of real action in the ring with Arifonso “Mosquito” Zvenyika fighting all his big fights out of this country.

Now, Manyuchi, working in conjunction with his promoters, are about to change that by bringing the blockbuster fight between the WBC welterweight silver champion, whose heroics in the ring have won him a huge fan base throughout the country, and his French opponent to Harare.

Manyuchi and his promoters are set to arrive in Zimbabwe this week to begin promoting the fight.

There is no doubt that Manyuchi deserves our support because the boxer has been flying our national flag on the international scene, showing our detractors that we have sportspersons who can work their way to the top of the world, and it’s about time that this nation showed some love to its boxing champion.

There are people who even say Manyuchi is more loved, and appreciated, in Zambia than in this country but we believe that his next mega fight against his French opponent will show that we really love our boxing champion and we are proud that he has risen from humble beginnings to make his mark among some of the finest boxers in the world.

If music fans can turn out in force, for a full house at the Harare International Conference Centre for the launch of Jah Prayza’s latest album, there is no reason why sports fans, and they don’t necessarily have to be boxing supporters only, can also come out in large numbers to support a boxer like Manyuchi given what he has done for this country in recent years.