She has signed a two-year deal with Kinshasa-based Rudy’s Sports Firm but she’ll still represent DR Congo’s national team
DR Congo’s Mandela Cup light-heavyweight champion Marie Joelle Mwika will make her professional boxing debut in August this year, 2025, in Kinshasa.
Marie has signed a two year deal with Rudy’s Sports Firm, and will now be fighting under their banner. Her opponent in August has yet to be identified. A representative of Rudy’s Sports Firm said they will release more details in due course.
A silver and bronze medallist at the 2023 and 2024 Africa Championships, Marie explains why she has turned professional.
“I’ve decided to turn pro to improve on my earnings in life since boxing is my job, and I also want to be more active because in Africa we have very few tournaments in amateur boxing,” she told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview from home in Lubumbashi, DR Congo.
She has however assured her fans she will continue representing the national team if she’s called up for national duty.
“I’m always happy to fight for the national team because I love my country,” said Marie, the elder sister to Africa and Mandela Cup welterweight champion, Brigitte Mbabi who is now campaigning as a pro boxer with three wins and one loss to Russia’s Azalia Amineva.
Marie started learning boxing in 2016 at the Ali Gym in Lubumbashi under the tutelage of her late dad and coach Mwika Bamanya Emmanuel Blaise.
Within a short span, her potential was spotted by the national team selectors, including Marie in the 2018 Africa Youth Championships in Algeria where won a gold medal in the middleweight division.
She went on to win a silver medal in the 2021 Africa Zone 3 Championships in Kinshasa, silver and bronze in the 2023 and 2024 Africa Championships, gold in the inaugural Mandela African Boxing Cup tournament in Durban, South Africa and silver in the African Games in Accra, Ghana.
Marie singles out Morocco’s renowned heavyweight Khadija Mardi as the toughest opponent she has met so far. Khadija defeated Marie in the finals of the 2023 Africa Championships in Yaounde, Cameroon.
The 25-year-old Marie is the first born in a family of three girls. Brigitte Mbabi, 23, follows her and 20-year-old last born Mulanga Meta. She’s now training under coach Mathias Kitos at Simba Ndoki Boxing Club in Lubumbashi.
“My sister Brigitte also trains with me at Simba Ndoki when she’s in Lubumbashi,” says Marie and hinted her other sister Mulanga Meta is keen to follow their footsteps.
Her mum Mbabi Brigitte is their number one fan.
“Our mother is our big supporter,” says Marie, “she has really encouraged us to pursue boxing the sport we all love in our family, my late dad was also a boxer he’s the foundation of our success.”
We wish you the best of luck in your pro debut in August lovely Marie Joelle Mwika.
