Female boxer seeks to scale greater heights
BOXING has largely remained a male dominated sport with few females venturing into the sector but a determined young woman is intent on carving her name in boxing history.
After falling in love with the sport watching it on television, Sehliselwe Nhliziyo (20) decided to join her school’s (Sikhulile High) boxing club in 2015 and set herself on a path that saw her turn professional last year.
Nhliziyo’s journey in boxing began under the tutelage of Mike Foloma at Sikhulile High School, a period when she started emerging as a boxer of note as she managed to dominate her age category winning several medals at national level.
Her belief that being a woman should not impede making inroads into the sport has been her rallying point, allowing her to focus on achieving more in the sport.
“Being a woman has not stopped me from doing the sport as I have managed to find supportive people who have been assisting me in my career.
“I believe once you become passionate about something, nothing should get in your way in fulfilling your dreams. We are in an era where gender cannot determine your success in any field. Well, people used to say boxing is not for females but to be honest I love boxing and won’t stop doing it,” said Nhliziyo, adding she is the only person in her family who does sports.
Her first year in boxing saw her being selected to represent Bulawayo at the National Youth Games and she managed to win a silver medal in her debut amateur fight and in 2016 she was also part of the Bulawayo team that went to Chinhoyi for that year’s Youth Games and she again won a silver.
“I wanted to quit that year as there was little progress I was making and no rewards but my friends encouraged me to be patient and not dump the sport.
“I went back to the ring and trained harder and in 2017 I won gold at that year’s edition of the Youth Games and the win motivated me to continue with the sport.
“In 2018 after completing my Ordinary Level studies, I moved to Lobengula Boxing Club coached by Anderson Sibanda and Pius Samakade and that is when I started training seriously because I wanted to take my sport to the next level which is professional boxing,” said Nhliziyo.
“That same year I moved to South Africa as part of efforts to improve my boxing and I had my first fight winning by a technical knock-out in the first round of a provincial tournament in Mpumalanga while representing Gauteng and I was adjudged the best boxer of the tournament.”
She revealed her SA coach, George Khosi urged her to turn professional to ensure she manages to secure fights as there were several bouts she missed after being turned down due to her amateur status.
Nhliziyo said turning professional in SA was difficult as she needed to have a residence permit.
Last year, she decided to return to Zimbabwe and was involved in her first fight albeit a loss, on points, to Fortunate China.
As an amateur boxer, Nhliziyo, nicknamed Smosh Bella, managed to have 34 fights and in those matches she managed to notch 28 wins and lost six.
Sibanda praised Nhliziyo for her power and speed adding she has a big heart which is needed in the sport.
“We need to get her more fights and obviously our hope is that she wins all of them before challenging for a belt.
“The boxing situation in Zimbabwe is quite difficult and we hope she will be able to make it in SA,” he said.
Other local female boxers that have illuminated the boxing scene include Monalisa Sibanda and Kudakwashe Nyagura.