Tanzania: Cheka Risks Losing UBO Title

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

Majuto Omary

10 May 2011

Universal Boxing Organisation (UBO) champion Tanzanian Francis “SMG” Cheka might be stripped of his middleweight title after failing to defend it for over six months, it has been revealed.It is eight months now since he last fought for the title, according to a letter submitted to Pugilist Syndicate of Tanzania (PST) yesterday.

“Cheka fought for the title on September 11, last year, and eight months have elapsed without defending the title,” the letter signed by the UBO vice president, David Maizner, reads.Maizner said in the letter that the UBO rules and regulations state that reigning champions must defend their respective titles within six month, contrary to that the organization will strip them of their titles and declare them vacant.

“Cheka is yet to defend his title. We’ve opted to give him another chance to defend it. Should he fails to do so, we’ll declare it vacant,” Maizner warned in the letter whose copy was availed to this paper.When contacted for comment on the matter, the PST president, Emmanuel Mlundwa, said he has notified the Morogoro-based boxer and his promoter, Zumo Makame, about a threat by the UBO.

“His promoter is required to organise a fight soon, short of that Cheka will stripped of the title,” Mlundwa stressed.On his part, Cheka said lack of promoters was the major factor behind his failure to defend his title within six months as required by UBO.”I didn’t fight within the required period because I’ve other titles to defend,” he said, adding:

“But who will organise it for me? None of the promoters I work with are interested in staging the UBO fight because it costs a lot of money.”

He said he would contact the UBO representative, Emmanuel Mlundwa on how to go about it.Meanwhile, veteran boxer Juma Fundi forfeited his Universal Boxing Organisation (UBO) bantamweight title after tumbling to up and coming pugilist Nasib Ramadhan last weekend.Ramadhan enjoyed the lion’s share of the bout at the DDC Keko Social Hall and it came as no surprise when he outpointed his opponent on points.

Despite the victory, Ramadhan was not crowned the UBO belt due to his unsatisfactory record in the game and was later given a new belt from World Boxing Forum (WBF) International Flyweight title.

Mlundwa said Ramadhan was not allowed to fight for UBO title, but he was sanctioned for WBF.UBO had warned Fundi that if he lost the fight he could be stripped of his title well in advance because it had not sanctioned the fight.Ramadhan was happy with the results, saying it has opened his way to the top honour.

“As you know, this is my first bout to fight with UBO champion, I managed to stop him and made him lose his title,” boasted Ramadhan.He said he would improve his record in the game and fight for the major titles in the country and abroad.Fundi accepted the results and promised to seek rematch against Ramadhan.

In one of the undercards, Mohamed Matumla won on points 59057 against Shaban Kilumbelumbe in a six-round scheduled Superbantam weight bout.Mohamed maintained that his unbeaten record since he turned professional last year and seemed to follow his fathers’ footsteps.

Earlier, Fred Sayuni won by technical knock out (TKO) against Rashid Ally in the third round of the featherweight bout, while Anthony Mathias won by TKO in the first round against Mwinyimvua Athuman in the super bantamweight fight held at the same venue.In another supporting bout, Juma Seleman won on points split against Faraji Sayuni, while Shaban Madilu claimed a TKO win over Ramadhan Kumbele in a flyweight bout.

AllAfrica – All the Time