Amateur boxers land Kips’ support

A window of opportunity has opened for amateur boxers Hannock Phiri and Limbani Powder after they each landed K200 000 worth of training equipment from Kips’ Restaurant.

According to Kips’ managing director Yaseen Giga, the support is meant to help the boxers improve their perfomance.

The 18-year-old boxers, who are under the podium performance programme run by College of Medicine High Performance Centre (CoMHPC) and sponsored  by Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS), won gold during the Harare Provincial Championships in Zimbabwe in March.

The boxers are preparing for Angola Region Five Games qualifiers scheduled for next month.

Giga said: “This support is in appreciation of their performance during the recent international event. As a company, we would like to take part in the developing of young talents. However, we will be selective based on performance. If they do well in the next competition, we will maintain the support and the stakes will be higher.”

On their part, Phiri and Powder expressed gratitude for the support and said they will work harder to win more medals.

“I do not know how to thank Kips’ for this good gesture. It is rare for individual sports to get corporate support in the country, but the restaurant has been very good to us. We will not let this opportunity slip through our fingers,” Phiri said on Saturday after receiving training shoes and T-shirt from Kips’ Restaurant personnel manager Alex Chipeta.

Phiri, a welterweight boxer, has won seven of his nine fights, drawn one and lost one as well.

Light welterweight boxer Powder has eight victories, a draw and a defeat.