After wiping the floors with his opponents in South Africa and quietly doing the business inside the ring, unbeaten Zimbabwean boxer Ndabezinhle Phiri is moving to the next stage of his career as he has signed to fight for a world title.
Phiri is going to clash against Liverpudlian Brandon Lee Daord in a vacant International Boxing Organisation (IBO) flyweight title fight in Liverpool, United Kingdom, on Saturday, 12 September.
The Bulawayo-born Phiri is the reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) Africa flyweight champion and is rated 11th by the WBC. Daord, the current WBC International flyweight titlist, is 15th in the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) ratings.
“We signed the contract on Friday. We are going to fight in Liverpool on the 12th of September. We have worked very hard to get Phiri to this position. We are very excited to get to the next stage and fight for the IBO world title. We would like to thank Warrior Ascent Promotions and Brad Norman for everything they have done for Phiri,” Phiri’s manager Brian Mitchell said.
The 25-year-old Phiri has won all his 11 fights with five of those victories coming from knockouts. On the other hand, Daord, 29, has 12 wins with three stoppages.
Meanwhile, Phiri’s amazing run has left his trainer Manny Fernandes with more content after the Zimbabwean stopped Gcina Makhoba in the fourth round during their clash at the Fourways Farmers Market in Johannesburg on Friday evening.
“He’s a mean machine and is getting better all the time as he’s maturing with every fight. It was an excellent performance on Friday. He’s a very dedicated, disciplined and very good fighter,” Fernandes said.
Phiri counts three Eastern Cape boxers among his victims after he registered successive wins over them. He stopped both Bandile Nyangani and Moyisi Booi while he outpointed Enathi Stelle. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
