Maba lands Red Lounge sponsorship deal

Red Lounge has signed a five-year partnership deal with Malawi Boxing Association (Maba) which will see them sponsoring boxing tournaments every three months to the tune of K5 million.

Red Lounge is an upmarket pub operating at the Bingu National Stadium (BNS) in Lilongwe.

Briefing journalists on Monday during the signing ceremony, Red Lounge managing director Evan Likonde said he has passion for the sport since his childhood days.

“We want to help promote boxing in the country by giving upcoming boxers exposure through these tournaments.

“We will be having these tournaments every three months. The tournaments will be beamed live on one of the local television stations. We will also help Maba in procuring boxing equipment like punching bags, mouth guards, dancing ropes and head guards,” he said.

Likonde has also promised Maba that Red Lounge is ready to provide scholarships to outstanding boxers that may require assistance.

He said he borrowed the concept during his stay in the United Kingdom.

“We want to work with Maba in this area for the next five years. The long-term plan is to have our boxers win continental and global tournaments,” said Likonde.

The first tournament will be held in March and will help local boxers to prepare for the 2018 Commonwealth Games scheduled for Gold Coast, Australia, in April.

Maba general secretary Elia Kamphinda Banda expressed gratitude to Red Lounge management for the sponsorship.

“As Maba we depend on government for funding. In the past five years our allocation has been stagnant meaning we were not able to have as many events as possible.

“When we met the minister responsible for sports [Francis Kasaila] recently, he challenged us to come up with ideas to woe the private sector and we are happy that things are working out,” he said. n