• ZAMBIA’S Titus Mukhala (left) competes with Adam Gemili of England (centre) and Guyana’s Jeremy Bascom in the men’s 100 metres heats at Hampden Park Stadium during the 2014 Commonwealth Games on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland. Mukhala crashed out of the competition. Picture by IAN WALTON/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE
From ELIAS CHIPEPO In Glasgow, Scotland –
IT took only 50 seconds for boxer Ben Muziyo to record one of the fastest knock outs at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and secure Zambia’s second medal here after pounding Mauritius’ Cedric Olivier to reach the semi-finals.
Muziyo is guaranteed a medal by virtue of reaching the semi-finals where he faces Antony Fowler of England, who beat Kenyan Nickson Abaka in his quarter-final match, tonight.
And that semi-final fight would determine what medal Muziyo gets as a win would see him battle for gold while a defeat will see him settle for bronze to add on the other one scooped by judoka Boas Munyonga.
Muziyo, however, has already set his target on winning silver obviously, looking at the type of competition he expects to face going by the boxers remaining.
In what many expected to be a tough quarter-final middleweight fight between two boxers who impressed during the pre-quarters, Muziyo showed he was in a class of his own and started the fight on a quick note aiming for that killer punch to knockout the Mauritian boxer.
With 50 seconds gone on the clock, Muziyo unleashed a strong combination of punches that sent Olivier crushing to the ground, leaving Scottish referee Andrew Caulfield with no choice but to end the fight via a technical knock out.
That decision sent the Zambian contingent into jubilation as National Olympic Committee president, Miriam Moyo, Sports Council of Zambia vice-chairperson, Emmanuel Katebe and some boxers, burst into singing the Chipolopolo anthem much to the delight and applause of the locals who had packed the boxing hall.
“My aim was to win the fight in the first round but if he survived then I would finished him off in the second round. I have watched my next opponent and saw how he fights and I think we shall have a good fight,” Muziyo said in an interview after the fight.
Muziyo said he did not expect any problems when facing Fowler, who is a cousin to former Liverpool footballer Robbie Fowler, and that he would be ready for the England boxing team captain.
Coach Kennedy Kanyanta said winning the quarter-final bout showed how prepared Muziyo was for the fight and was happy that the target of reaching the semi-finals was finally met.
Kanyanta, a Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games gold winner, said Muziyo had done Zambia proud and that his victory was a plus to the coaching bench.
“Our focus was to reach the semi-finals where we targeted a bronze medal, now that we have achieved that, we definitely want the colour of the medal to change to either gold or silver,” he said.
On his thoughts on Muziyo’s next opponent Fowler, Kanyanta said he rated the Englishman as a good fighter but that the coaching bench would work hard towards ensuring the Zambian boxer was in good shape.
“The boxer from England is good tactically and technically and we shall not underrate him but will work hard to achieve the result. We have the whole day tomorrow (yesterday) to prepare and he will be ready,” Kanyanta said.
