Tanzania’s most decorated pro boxer Hassan ‘Champez’ Mwakinyo TKO’d Ghana’s Elvis Ahorgah in the 7th of a scheduled 10-round fight to capture the World Boxing Organisation Africa middleweight title at the New Amaan Complex, Zanzibar,l on Saturday, January 27.
With that victory, Mwakinyo improved his record to 22-3-0, 15 KOs as he seeks more recognition in the barechested game.
Mwakinyo, who now seems to prefer fighting as a southpaw than his natural orthodox stance, was in the driver’s seat from the beginning of the fight. A lightning left hook to the chin in the seventh round dropped the Ghanaian before the referee waived it off.
The Tanzanian star boxer was given a standing ovation by the highly appreciative Zanzibari crowd watching their biggest ever boxing show since the government lifted a ban on the sport last year.
Ever since he made his professional debut in 2015 with a six-round points win over compatriot Alibaba Tarimo at his home in Tanga, Mwakinyo has steadily risen to become Tanzania’s most popular boxer and is also the face of boxing in the largest East African country.
After his successful pro debut, Mwakinyo decisioned Mohammed Kidari in a four rounder in his second fight and then stumbled to his first defeat at the hands of Shabani Kaoneka who KO’d him in the sixth of a scheduled 10-round fight.
Mwakinyo made up for his defeat by Kaoneka with an eight-fight unbeaten run before suffering his second loss to Russia’s Lendrush Akipyan in 2017.
There was no stopping Mwakinyo after the defeat to the Russian. He maintained an astonishing 10-fight unbean streak, his notable victories being against Briton Sam Eggington and Namibia’s highly regarded Julius Indongo who was TKO’d in the fourth round by the big-talking Mwakinyo
His victory over Indongo saw Mwakinyo retaining his Africa Boxing Union super-welterweight title had won with a ninth round TKO over Angola’s Maiala Antonio at the Next Door Arena in Dar es Salaam.
“I have beaten the Namibian government,” boasted Mwakinyo following his fourth round stoppage win over the Namibian policeman.
“Defeating a policeman is the same as beating the Namibian government,” Mwakinyo told me in a telephone interview. He was later stripped of the ABU title for failing to defend it in the stipulated period.
Mwakinyo’s second round stoppage victory in 2018 over Britain’s Sam Eggington was more stunning.
He took the fight with just a week’s notice but shocked the world when he put up a devastating show of power punching to stop the Briton at the Birmingham Arena.
Mwakinyo’s second fight in the UK however turned out to be his worst ever show so far. Pitted against homeboy Liam Smith, Mwakinyo, who had trained in Miami in the US, twice took a knee before the Englishman won in a controversial fourth round TKO at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool.
The Tanzanian boxer went down to one knee in the fourth round with referee Victor Loughlin counting it as a knockdown. An incensed Mwakinyo claimed his gumshield was out but replays showed he spat out the gumshield deliberately. He then gave up fighting, and immediately his critics accused Mwakinyo of chickening out from the fight.
For unknown reasons, the British Boxing Board of Control banned Mwakinyo for two weeks from fighting in the UK. The government then ordered the Tanzania Professional Boxing Regulatory Commission to conduct thorough investigations on what transpired in Mwakinyo’s fight resulting in the ban by the BBBC.
Mwakinyo’s ardent fans are keenly looking forward to his next fight hoping that he will finally fulfill his dream of becoming Tanzania’s first ever boxer to become a world champion under one of the three most prestigious governing professional boxing bodies, WBC, WBA and IBF.
Credit: Nenez Media Services
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