Cuban boxer dents Chilemba comeback bid

South Africa-based Malawian boxer Isaac ‘Golden Boy’ Chilemba lost through unanimous decision to Cuban opponent Osleys Iglesias in a unified International Boxing, International Super Middleweight and World Boxing Association belts on Friday.

Chilemba, who also lost his previous fight against Russian Pavel Silyagin in Russia in a world title fight last November, came back from retirement to face the 25-year-old Cuban opponent, in a bid to revive his career.

According to official results, two judges scored 118-109 while the other scored 120-107 in favour of the Cuban opponent

In an interview, his former long-time trainer Andson Kazembe said it was not his best weight category, as such, he should not retire.

“Isaac still has a few fights in him. His losses are not that bad. He went to Russia and drew. That was obviously a win. His other last fights have been against good opponents. He is still a force to reckon with. He is at his best at lightweight. The loss at super middleweight should not discourage him.

“He will continue to get challenges from abroad and he has to make them light-heavyweight fights. I would have advised him to retire if the losses were embarrassing.”

Malawi Professional Boxing Control Board president Lonzoe Zimba also said the loss not discourage him.

“When you look at the results, it shows that he put up a good fight. He is a good boxer,” he said.

Chilemba could not be reached for comment.The Malawian has not won any of his recent bouts, having drawn against Russian Fedor Chudinovic in February last year before losing on unanimous decision points against Pavel Silyagin in a world silver super middleweight title fight last November in Russia.