A newly-introduced tournament to honour Tanzania’s founding father of the nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, will be launched next year in Mara Region, the birth place of Nyerere who hailed from Butiama, and was well known for providing a home to several African liberation movements.
Mara is one of Tanzania’s 31 administrative regions and famously known to be the home of the renowned Serengeti National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) President, Lukelo Willilo announced the birth of this important new event – to be known as Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Memorial Boxing Tournament – while on a tour of Mara and Mwanza Regions over the weekend, accompanied by the federation’s Secretary-General, Makore Mashaga.
“This is a milestone achievement for BFT to stage a memorial tournament in honour of the founder of our nation Mwalimu Julius Nyerere,” said Willilo.
“We will meet with government officials to discuss all the logistics of this historic tournament which we intend to give it an image befitting the status of the late Mwalimu Nyerere.”
He said they will have various awards during the tournament to honour some of Tanzania’s past top boxers such as 1970 Commonwealth Games middleweight silver medallist Titus Simba, 1978 Africa Games flyweight silver medallist, Emmanuel Mlundwa and 1983 Africa Elite Championships heavyweight champion, Willy Isangura who is one of Tanzania’s star boxers from Mara Region, among others being his brother Makoye Isangura, Nassoro Michael, Michael Changalawe, Juma Bugingo AKA Mkono wa Spring, 2022 Commonwealth Games and Africa Championships bronze medallist Yusuf Changalawe who is the current captain of the national team and Accra Africa Games bronze medallist Musa Wambura.
“We want to invest on Mara Region to groom more outstanding boxers here because they have proved themselves to have the potential. The boxers in Mara are physically stronger and possess the much needed resilience and persistence in the ring,” said Willilo whose tour started from Mara’s capital, Musoma where they met boxing and government officials led by Mara Region head Retired Colonel Evans Mtambi.
Willilo announced BFT will hold a Referees and Judges course that will also involve boxing administrators in the region in November this year.
The BFT President also visited Nyerere’s burial home in Mwitongo, Butiama and observed a minute’s silence of respect at the graveside of Mwalimu Nyerere.
“While on my tour of Butiama I was impressed by the government leaders in Butiama to locate a training hall for the youthful boxers and promised to support them with the necessary training equipment,” said Willilo who wound up his tour in Mwanza Region where he presided over the official opening of a course for coaches and R&Js.
Credit: AFBC Communications
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