Recently, expert trainer Nick Durandt made an official request to the World Boxing Council for a rematch. South Africa’s heavyweight champion Osborne Machimana was not able to overcome deprived officiating and a terrible environment in Zambia on match night when he was stopped in the seventh round. This brawl was for the African Boxing Union heavyweight title held by Joseph Chingangu. The single reason Machimana took on the challenge was to get a WBC world rating if he thrashed Chingangu.
Durandt explains that the dressing area was the size of a toilet compartment with inadequate room for his boxer to warm up. Even the ring was over the normal height and it was similar to climbing a flight of stairs to use the ropes. Also, at that time of the evening the canvas was sopping wet and greasy from all the previous brawls. The annoyed Durandt said “I was absolutely shocked. I have taken my fighters throughout the whole globe and I have never been treated so roughly. The Zambian Boxing Commission first needs to discover how to run and conduct professional boxing.” Durandt also said he had written a sturdily worded letter to the ABU, and would look for Boxing South Africa’s help in writing a letter of petition to the WBC, which is the mother organization to the ABU.
