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Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ALL is set for the Zimbabwe Amateur Boxing Association National Open tournament to be held in Bulawayo this weekend. The tournament is pencilled for Saturday at Llewellyn barracks and is expected to run until Sunday morning with participants coming from various provinces and clubs across the country.

The competition will see the boxers competing from lightweight to heavyweight categories for both men and women.

Zaba technical director, Petros Masiyambumbi, said everything has been put into place and they were now waiting for the arrival of participants.

“The tournament is on and everything is in place.  Most of the provinces have acknowledged their participation, including clubs.

“I think it’s going to be one of the major tournaments for this year, that’s why we have said it’s an open competition.

“It’s an opportunity for every boxer to come and get the chance to showcase their talent,” said Masiyambumbi.

Masiyambumbi said they were expecting tough competition since there will only be one match for each fighter unlike when they compete in the national championships.

“We are expecting at least 10 male and 10 female boxers per province and they can as well add that number with the juniors. All weight categories are open for this event.

‘We are saying there must be high performance because it’s not like in the championships where we expect one to fight in two or three fights, this is going to be one fight for every boxer against one opponent.

“The bouts will be made up of three rounds in three minutes meaning that they will compete with all their strength because it’s just a single match.

“So we expect high competition. We are expecting most of the teams to arrive on Friday and we will conduct the medical examinations and weigh in on Saturday morning so that we can start the competition in the afternoon. We are expecting a high turnout but I am confident we will have all participants competing and we are looking forward to a successful event,” said Masiyambumbi.

The Zaba technical director, however, said they are still deciding if they will be able to hold the Champions of Champions tournament which is usually the closing event for their season.

“For the Champions of Champions we are still deciding because the provinces are still struggling to host the event. We have not yet found a venue for the tournament. We will meet with the provinces to map the way forward,” said Masiyambumbi.

The Champions of Champions was initially scheduled for this weekend.