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For many years, Sharon Mbamba was the anchor alongside the boxing ring for her husband, Evans Mbamba, managing fight-night anxiety, celebrating victories and tending to the bruises.
Years later, as she and Evans take care of the family business, her daughter is getting bitten with the same boxing bug.
Bianca, who has acquired a promoter’s licence with Boxing SA, will introduce her Mbamba Legendary Promotions stable to the fight fraternity on Friday night with an eight-bout tournament at John Barrable Hall in Benoni.
The pride and excitement exuding from parents Sharon and Evans — a former WBC International junior bantamweight champion — is palpable.
“My wish was for my husband to promote boxing after his retirement in 2013, but due to his business commitments he could not,” said Sharon. “But that longing has been fulfilled with our daughter becoming a promoter to preserve her father’s legacy.”
Nicknamed “Mamba”, the retired boxer said he was equally excited at seeing his daughter picking up the family boxing mantle. “The sport of boxing was good to me, I hope it will also be good to my daughter.”
Although he lost his bid for the IBO world bantamweight title in 2011, Mbamba gave Armenia’s revered Vic Darchinyan a formidable challenge.
Mbamba, from Duduza, a township west of Nigel on the East Rand, said that through boxing, he had met the right people in his life.
“I met people who made the impossible possible,” said Mbamba, who has a highly lucrative commercial cleaning business and a thriving agricultural farm in Nigel, that hosts a herd of roughly 100 cows and goats.
Mbamba, 45, owns residential properties in Sandton and Phuket, in Thailand.
Said Bianca: “I am privileged to have such loving, caring, supportive and understanding parents. I saw my father box, and put food on the table for us, and that motivates me to do the same for others.
“I dearly want to contribute towards changing lives. I believe the sport is at a time where it needs a blending of old experience and young people with fresh ideas.”
Topping her bill is a Gauteng flyweight title bout between holder Zolile “Scientist” Miya and Luyanda “Pretty Boy” Ntwanambe.
Crowd-puller Sameer Mulla, who is trained by Damien Durandt, takes on Zimbabwean Sinenkosi Mlotshwa over eight rounds, while former SA junior welterweight champ Prince Dlomo meets Amos Mphanda over eight rounds.
Ticket prices range from R100 to R1,000. Action begins at 7pm.
Sowetan