By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –

THE Zambia Boxing Federation (ZBF) has introduced the Charm ‘Shuffle’ Chiteule memorial annual boxing tournament in honour of late boxer, who died in 2008 after an illustrious career.
ZBF president Thomas Chileshe said in an interview yesterday that the federation saw it fit to honour Chiteule for the contributions he made to the development of boxing in the country.
Chileshe announced that the inaugural Charm Shuffle tournament will be staged in Kabwe this weekend where the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics bound boxers will square up with other pugilists.
He said the ZBF would engage the corporate world for sponsorship to ensure that the tournament was a success every year.
“We feel it is time to honour our fallen heroes who contributed greatly to the development of boxing in Zambia because without them, this sport would not have reached the level where it is now.
As the ZBF executive committee, we have decided to introduce the Charm ‘Shuffle’ memory annual boxing tournament in remembrance of Charm Chiteule’s contributions to the sport. This will be an annual event with the first one taking place at the late Chiteule’s Nyaka lodge in
Kabwe next weekend,” he said.
Chiteule, who belonged to the era of Lottie ‘Gunduzani’ Mwale, Chisanda ‘Kent Green’ Mutti and John ‘Big Joe’ Sichula, is fondly remembered for his quick foot movements in the ring which earned him the nickname “Shuffle”.
At the height of his career, Chiteule challenged Ghanaian boxing legend, Azumah Nelson in 1982 for the Commonwealth and African featherweight belt but lost on a 10th round technical knock-out at Woodlands Stadium in Lusaka and retired from boxing in 1984.
Meanwhile, Chileshe said ZBF would engage Mwale’s family to discuss the possibility of introducing another memorial tournament in honour of the late Commonwealth Games gold medalist.
“We will be having discussions with Lottie Mwale’s family to request if they can buy into our plans of having a tournament in memory of his achievements because we want our heroes to be remembered,” he said.