Boxing coach to open amateurs academy

Former amateur national boxing coach Andy Muyaya  has outlined an ambitious strategic plan for his yet-to-be- launched boxing academy scheduled to open at Pro-Fitness Gym in Blantyre soon after the suspension on sports activities due to Covid-19 is lifted.

Muyaya said Scorpion Academy, the first of its kind in the country, will offer basic boxing skills to those aspiring to be professional boxers.

He said: “Boxing starts from grass roots; that is why I want to start training young ones from the age of seven upwards.

“I want to groom them to have experience so that they can fight in Under-20 games before they become professional boxers.”

However, Muyaya, who recently resigned as Malawi Amateur Boxing Association (Maba) national coach, says his plans are facing a challenge due to lack of boxing equipment.

He said: “I have managed to get some boxing equipment from my fellow coach, Anderson Kazembe, who is based in South African.

“However, we need more. We are appealing to other well-wishers to donate equipment.”

Muyaya dreams of establishing boxing academies in each region to reach out to budding boxers from rural areas.

“I have engaged different boxing stakeholders in specific fields to open three gyms in all the country’s three regions where we can operate the other academies,” he said.

Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board (MPBCB) president Lonzoe Zimba applauded Muyaya for the boxing academy concept, saying it will go a long way in offering basic boxing skills to budding boxers.

He said: “This idea is a great development for Malawi boxing because it is going to be very important for boxers as they will be groomed and graduate from amateur boxers to professional boxers.

“It is going to be so helpful because our boxers will be ready to fight in games since they will have been trained from grass roots. We are happy and ready to support the coach,” Zimba said.

Muyaya boasts of an impressive track record, having produced some of the country’s top boxers who have made it both at local and international level.

Boxers such as South Africa-based former World Boxing Federation champion Isaac Chilemba, Wilson Masamba, Chimwemwe Chiotcha, and Happiness Nkhoma, once underwent training under Muyaya as amateurs.