{"id":56110,"date":"2026-04-15T04:50:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=56110"},"modified":"2026-04-15T04:50:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:50:23","slug":"2026-04-15-ellen-simwaka-to-fight-bernice-ferreira-for-ibo-belt-on-may-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/04\/15\/2026-04-15-ellen-simwaka-to-fight-bernice-ferreira-for-ibo-belt-on-may-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Ellen Simwaka to fight Bernice Ferreira for IBO belt on May 9"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Fight fans are looking forward to the May 9 match between Bernice \u201cThe Badger\u201d Ferreira and Ellen \u201cTigress\u201d Simwaka at Wild Coast Sun in the Eastern Cape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Promoter Terry Anne Hart announced the IBO Championship committee approved Simwaka to taken on Ferreira for its vacant junior lightweight title.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Initially Ferreira was due to face Simwaka\u2019s compatriot from Lilongwe in Malawi, Adidya \u201cLioness\u201d Mimu, next Saturday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">However, Mimu, who is Simwaka\u2019s gym mate at Brian Mitchell\u2019s gym in Edenvale where their trainer Vusi Mtolo rents space, pulled out this week due to medical reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Hart acted swiftly and approached Simwaka, who stepped up to the plate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Ferreira is fairly new in the game and undefeated after nine fights, with the SA belt as testament to her resilience and hunger to reclaim her place in the sport. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Simwaka is a scarred warrior who has won the International Boxing Federation Africa, World Boxing Federation\u2019s Africa, International and Intercontinental bantamweight titles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The pressure fighter, who relentlessly throws volumes of punches, has been active for 10 years with 14 wins, eight losses and two draws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Their match promises to be a raw and intense fight much like the \u201cRumble in the Jungle\u201d. That was a historic heavyweight boxing match held on October 30 1974 in Kinshasa, Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), between new champion Muhammad Ali and dethroned champ George Foreman.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Hart said: \u201cWe had a bit of a stumble, but we are surviving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAs Fighters Club, our lead and most important fight on the night of April 25 was between Adidya and Bernice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWe sympathise with Adidya because this was a very important title for herself and for Bernice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI think it would been a world-class title fight on African soil between African women.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cTo postpone was not an easy decision. It came with finding a replacement for Adidya. Ellen said she\u2019s ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">All fighters who have been training for April 25 will feature on May 9.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Hart said: \u201cI feel the system designed for fighters is failing them and promoters because we had known three weeks ago, we could still have the event on April 28.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cThis needs to change and regulation needs to be activated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Hart urged Boxing SA to have a look at regulations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cIf the industry is privy to certain information, I should also be privy to that information. \u201cI feel the pressure it caused on Adidya.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">She said she took offence to accusations that Mimu was not fit to fight so she pulled out of the bout.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI saw Adidya at Battle for Love (a tournament she staged in February) and she was ready.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Ellen #Simwaka #fight #Bernice #Ferreira #IBO #belt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fight fans are looking forward to the May 9 match between Bernice \u201cThe Badger\u201d Ferreira and Ellen \u201cTigress\u201d Simwaka at&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56112,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56110\/revisions\/56112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}