Zambia’s Commonwealth Games silver medallist Steve Zimba (pictured) was shocked when referee, Jean Telchemtcha from Cameroon, disqualified him for allegedly deliberately spitting his gumshield twice in the third round during the light-middleweight fight round of 16 against Mali’s Mahamadou Goita in the ongoing African Games boxing tournament in Accra, Ghana.
Zimba, however, denies spitting his gumshield deliberately and blames the referee for jumping the gun with his hasty decision of disqualifying him. “The gumshield I was using was borrowed from a friend because I forgot mine at home in Zambia,” explained Zimba when I spoke to him.
“The gumshield was too big for me, that’s why it came out twice from my mouth in the third to round. As an experienced boxer there’s no way I can spit my gumshield, in any case I was not tired.”
Zimba wondered why the referee did not stop the fight in the third round because he felt he had punished the Mali boxer thoroughly.
“The guy was bleeding from the second to the third round. I was punishing him and ahead on points from the first round. He also had a cut on his left eye, and the fight should have been stopped. So, I strongly feel the decision to disqualify me was not justified.
Has the disqualification affected him psychologically?
“No way, not at all, I’m very much okay,” said Zimba, and added: “The disqualification has in fact made me stronger, I’m ready to go to Thailand for the Olympic qualifiers. I will come back stronger.”
Zimba has now switched his attention to the eagerly awaited Mandela Boxing Cup tournament next month in South Africa’s coastal city of Durban. Boxers will be paid handsome prize money in this inaugural tournament to honour South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.
Zambia’s Commonwealth Games silver medallist, Steve Zimba (right), with a training partner in the gym. He has denied spitting his gumshield deliberately in his round of 16 fights in the ongoing African Games in Accra.
