Isaac Chilemba

Isaac Chilemba
Isaac Chilemba
Statistics
Real name	Miguel Isaac Chilemba Zuze
Nickname(s)	Golden Boy
Weight(s)	Super-middleweight ; Light-heavyweight ;
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Reach	73 in (185 cm)
Nationality	Malawian
Born	17 May 1987 (age 35); Blantyre, Malawi
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	38
Wins	27
Wins by KO	10
Losses	9
Draws	3

Last updated December 22, 2022

Miguel Isaac Chilemba Zuze (born 17 May 1987) is a Malawian professional boxer who held the IBO super-middleweight title from 2010 to 2011, and challenged for the WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO light-heavyweight titles in 2016.

Early professional career

Chilemba made his professional debut in Gauteng, South Africa on 19 October 2005 defeating Thamsanga Tindleni in the 2nd round of a 4 round contest. He compiled a run of eight successive victories before dropping a points decision to Willbeforce Shihepo on 5 July 2007 at the Emperor's Palace in Gauteng. The reverse to Shihepo was immediately rectified in his next fight, again in Gauteng, on 21 November 2007 defeating Shihepo on points over six rounds. Two more fights followed in 2008 resulting in wins over David Basajjamivule and Chamunorowa Gonorenda before Chilemba got the opportunity to fight for the African Boxing Unions super middleweight championship on 13 September 2008. The fight for the title once again took place at the Emperor's Palace and pitched Chilemba against the experienced former Commonwealth champion Charles Adamu with Chilemba winning the fight with a 12 round decision to lift the title.^[1]^[2]

Championship fights

In his next fight Chilemba stepped up to light heavyweight and challenged former victim David Basajjamivule for the WBO version of the light heavyweight title. The fight at the Graceland Casino in Mpumalanga took place on 13 June 2009 and resulted in a second victory over the Ugandan.^[3] Chilemba followed this up on 31 October 2009 with another title win, this time defeating French based Congolese fighter Doudou Ngumbu to lift the African Boxing Union's light heavyweight version as well as the WBC International title.^[4] A first defence of the WBC title was due to have been made on 26 March 2010 with the Malawian travelling to England to meet former British champion Tony Oakey on a Ricky Hatton promoted bill. The fight however never materialised after Oakey lost an English title fight to fellow countryman Danny McIntosh.^[5] Following Oakey, the next opponent lined up for Chilemba was to be Rupert van Aswegen but he then chose to retire from the sport altogether leaving the Malawian once again without an opponent.

IBO World Title

Following the pullout, Chilemba moved back down at super middleweight for the chance to fight undefeated Australian Michael Bolling on 19 June 2010 for the vacant IBO world title.^[6] The fight at the Emperor's Palace, resulted in another win for the Malawian and was his fourth title fight in a row in which a different title had been on the line.^[7] Chilemba made the first defence of his IBO belt on 6 November 2010 returning to the Emperors Palace and retaining with a gruelling draw against touted South African Thomas Oosthuizen despite being the underdog going into the fight.^[8] On 25 February 2011 Chilemba travelled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to fight in the United States for the first time. His opponent, the unbeaten Russian Maxim Vlasov had won all 19 of his previous fights and managed to knock Chilemba down twice in the 8th round. Despite this the Malawian was able to win the fight over the 10 round distance.^[9]

Chilemba vs. Meroro

Chilemba returned to South Africa for his next fight against Namibian boxer Vikapita Meroro and retained the WBC International light heavyweight title on 26 March 2011 with a unanimous points win.^[10]

Chilemba vs. Bivol

On August 4, 2018, Chilemba challenged Dmitry Bivol for his WBA light heavyweight belt. Bivol landed 34.5% of his punches compared to Chiilemba's 15.5% and all three judges saw Bivol as the clear winner, scoring the fight 120-108, 120-108 and 112-112 for the champion.^[11]

Professional boxing record

39 fights	27 wins	9 losses
By knockout	11	1
By decision	16	8
Draws	3

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
39	Win	27-9-3	Mbaruku Kheri	KO	2 (10), 1:53	16 Sept 2022	The Carousel Casino, Hammanskraal, South Africa
38	Loss	26–9–3	Osleys Iglesias	UD	12	27 May 2022	Hala Globus, ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego 8, Lublin, Poland	For vacant IBO International super middleweight title and vacant WBA Inter-Continental super middleweight title
37	Loss	26–8–3	Pavel Silyagin	UD	12	26 Nov 2021	USC Soviet Wings, Moscow, Russia	For WBC Silver super-middleweight title
36	Draw	26–7–3	Fedor Chudinov	SD	10	20 Feb 2021	Crocus City Hall, Krasnogorsk, Russia
35	Win	26–7–2	Alexander Kubich	UD	8	13 Dec 2019	P.A.O.K. Sports Arena, Thessaloniki, Greece
34	Loss	25–7–2	Maxim Vlasov	UD	12	20 Jul 2019	Central Square, Gelendzhik, Russia	For vacant EBP light-heavyweight title
33	Loss	25–6–2	Dmitry Bivol	UD	12	4 Aug 2018	Etess Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.	For WBA light-heavyweight title
32	Win	25–5–2	Blake Caparello	UD	12	16 Mar 2018	The Melbourne Pavilion, Flemington, Australia	Won vacant WBC International light-heavyweight title
31	Loss	24–5–2	Oleksandr Gvozdyk	RTD	8 (10), 3:00	19 Nov 2016	T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.	For NABF light-heavyweight title
30	Loss	24–4–2	Sergey Kovalev	UD	12	11 Jul 2016	Divs Hotel, Yekaterinburg, Russia	For WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO light-heavyweight titles
29	Loss	24–3–2	Eleider Álvarez	MD	12	28 Nov 2015	Videotron Centre, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada	For WBC Silver light-heavyweight title
28	Win	24–2–2	Vasily Lepikhin	UD	10	14 Mar 2015	Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant NABF light-heavyweight title
27	Win	23–2–2	Cory Cummings	TKO	7 (10), 2:28	2 Aug 2014	Revel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
26	Win	22–2–2	Denis Grachev	UD	10	15 Mar 2014	Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
25	Win	21–2–2	Michael Gbenga	UD	8	16 Nov 2013	Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, U.S.
24	Loss	20–2–2	Tony Bellew	UD	12	25 May 2013	The O2 Arena, London, England	For WBC Silver light-heavyweight title
23	Draw	20–1–2	Tony Bellew	SD	12	30 Mar 2013	Echo Arena, Liverpool, England	For WBC Silver light-heavyweight title
22	Win	20–1–1	Rayco Saunders	UD	8	29 Sep 2012	Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S.
21	Win	19–1–1	Edison Miranda	UD	10	3 Feb 2012	Texas Station Casino, North Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
20	Win	18–1–1	Jameson Bostic	KO	2 (8), 1:48	1 Oct 2011	Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
19	Win	17–1–1	Vikapita Meroro	UD	10	26 Mar 2011	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa	Won vacant WBC International light-heavyweight title
18	Win	16–1–1	Maxim Vlasov	UD	10	25 Feb 2011	Million Dollar Elm Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
17	Draw	15–1–1	Thomas Oosthuizen	SD	12	6 Nov 2010	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa	Retained IBO super-middleweight title
16	Win	15–1	Michael Bolling	UD	12	19 Jun 2010	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa	Won vacant IBO super-middleweight title
15	Win	14–1	Doudou Ngumbu	UD	12	31 Oct 2009	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa	Won WBC International and African light-heavyweight titles
14	Win	13–1	David Basajjamivule	UD	12	13 Jun 2009	Graceland Hotel Casino, Secunda, South Africa	Won vacant WBO Africa light-heavyweight title
13	Win	12–1	Charles Adamu	UD	12	13 Sep 2008	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa	Won vacant African super-middleweight title
12	Win	11–1	Chamunorwa Gonorenda	KO	4 (6)	15 Jul 2008	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
11	Win	10–1	David Basajjamivule	TKO	8 (8)	29 Apr 2008	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
10	Win	9–1	Willbeforce Shihepo	PTS	6	21 Nov 2007	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
9	Loss	8–1	Willbeforce Shihepo	PTS	6	5 Jul 2007	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
8	Win	8–0	Godfrey Nene	TKO	2 (6)	12 May 2007	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
7	Win	7–0	Charles Chisamba	PTS	6	27 Mar 2007	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
6	Win	6–0	Emmanuel Gwala	TKO	4 (6)	1 Dec 2006	Orlando Communal Hall, Soweto, South Africa
5	Win	5–0	Ronnie Lategan	TKO	2 (4)	17 Nov 2006	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
4	Win	4–0	Mark Sloane	PTS	4	11 Jul 2006	Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
3	Win	3–0	Sithembiso Ngcobo	KO	1 (4), 1:18	25 May 2006	Carnival City, Brakpan, South Africa
2	Win	2–0	Oupa Mahlangu	TKO	4 (4)	10 Feb 2006	Graceland Hotel Casino, Secunda, South Africa
1	Win	1–0	Thamsanqa Tindleni	TKO	4 (4)	19 Oct 2005	Carnival City, Secunda, South Africa

Related Research Articles

The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO).

The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), World Boxing Council (WBC), and International Boxing Federation (IBF). The WBO's headquarters are located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In professional boxing, the undisputed champion of a weight class is the boxer who holds world titles from all of the major sanctioning organisations simultaneously. There are currently four major sanctioning bodies: WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO. There were many undisputed champions before the number of sanctioning bodies increased to four in 2007, but there have only been 13 boxers to hold all four titles simultaneously. As of December 2022, Canelo Álvarez, Jermell Charlo, Devin Haney, and Naoya Inoue are undisputed champions in the super middleweight, light middleweight, lightweight, and bantamweight divisions respectively.

Roberto Garcia Cortez is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2001, and held the IBF junior lightweight title from 1998 to 1999. He has since worked as a boxing trainer, and was voted Trainer of the Year by The Ring magazine in 2011, and by the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2012. He is the older brother of professional boxer Mikey Garcia, who is a world champion in four weight classes.

Eléider Álvarez Baytar is a Colombian professional boxer who held the WBO light-heavyweight title from 2018 to 2019. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in the light-heavyweight division.

Badou Johannes Gabriel Jack is a Swedish professional boxer. He is a former world champion in two weight classes, having held the WBC super-middleweight title from 2014 to 2017 and the WBA light-heavyweight title in 2017. As an amateur he represented The Gambia at the 2008 Olympics, reaching the first round of the middleweight bracket.

Santos Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez Barragán is a Mexican professional boxer. He has won multiple world championships in four weight classes from light middleweight to light heavyweight, including unified titles in three of those weight classes and lineal titles in two. Álvarez is the first and only boxer in history to become undisputed champion at super middleweight, having held the WBA (Super), WBC and Ring magazine titles since 2020, and the IBF and WBO titles since 2021.

Charles Adamu is a Ghanaian professional boxer. As an amateur he represented Ghana in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games, where he won a bronze medal, and in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, where he reached the second round. As a professional he is a two-time holder of the Commonwealth super middleweight title.

Boxing in the 2010s includes notable events about boxing which occurred between 2010 to 2019. The decade saw high intensity action in the welterweight division. The match between veterans Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao broke PPV records. The broadcast of the fight in the Philippines was watched by nearly half the country's households. Mayweather retired at a record 50-0-0 while Pacquiao became the first eight division champion. The middleweight division saw immense action in the later years of the decade. After a draw in 2017, Canelo Alvarez ended Gennady Golovkin's long reign in 2018. The heavyweight division was dominated by Klitschko brothers before Wladimir's loss to Tyson Fury in 2015. Other talents that emerged were Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksander Usyk.

Thomas Oosthuizen is a South African professional boxer. He is a former IBO world champion in two weight classes, having held the super-middleweight title from 2011 to 2014, and the light-heavyweight title in 2015.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kovalev is a Russian professional boxer. He has held multiple light-heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Undisputed) and IBF titles from 2014 to 2016, and the WBO title three times between 2013 and 2019. Nicknamed the "Krusher", Kovalev is particularly known for his exceptional punching power, although he describes himself as "just a regular boxer".

Renold Vatubua Quinlan is an Australian professional boxer of Indigenous and Fijian descent. Best known for knocking out former world champion Daniel Geale, Quinlan held the IBO super-middleweight title from 2016 to 2017.

Robert Berridge is a retired New Zealand professional light heavyweight boxer.

Umar Isaevich Salamov is a Russian professional boxer who held the IBO light-heavyweight title in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dmitry Bivol</span> Russian boxer (born 1990)

Dmitry Yuryevich Bivol is a Russian professional boxer who has held the WBA light heavyweight title since 2017. As an amateur, he won a gold medal at the 2013 World Combat Games in the 81 kg weight category. As of November 2022, Bivol is ranked as the world's third best active boxer, pound for pound, by BoxRec, fifth by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), sixth by The Ring, and seventh by the Boxing Writers Association of America and ESPN. He is also ranked as the best light heavyweight by The Ring, ESPN, and BoxRec, and second by TBRB.

Joe Smith Jr. is an American professional boxer who held the WBO light heavyweight title from 2021 to June 2022. In 2016, Smith became the first boxer to score a stoppage victory over former undisputed middleweight world champion Bernard Hopkins, who retired after their fight.

Kevin Lerena is a South African professional boxer who held the IBO cruiserweight title from 2017 to 2021. As of September 2021, he is ranked as the world's fifth best active cruiserweight by The Ring magazine, fourth by Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and eight by BoxRec.

Dennis Hogan is an Irish professional boxer who is the current IBO Super Welterweight World Champion and has challenged for world championships in two weight classes; the WBO light-middleweight and WBC middleweight titles, both in 2019.

References

↑ "Isaac Chilemba record". Boxrec. 17 May 1987. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
↑ "Malawian boxer beats Ghanain". Africa News. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
↑ Ngasa times | Malawi's Chilemba wins WBO African title Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
↑ Ngasa Times | Malawi's Chilemba wins WBC light heavyweight title Archived 4 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
↑ "Veep still in cabinet─experts". 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
↑ Kulani Nkuna (7 June 2010). "Chilemba to take over Bolling title shot". Business Day. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
↑ Africa News | Malawian beats Aussie to claim IBO belt
↑ Sy Lerman, Sapa (7 November 2010). "so called war ends in a draw". Times Live. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
↑ "Nation on Sunday | Chilemba takes USA by storm". Nationmw.net. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
↑ "Namibia Sport | Meroro loses to Chilemba". Archived from the original on 1 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
↑ Esco, Wil (4 August 2018). "HBO Results: Dmitry Bivol dominates Isaac Chilemba to retain light heavyweight title". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

External links

Boxing record for Isaac Chilemba from BoxRec (registration required)

Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Vacant Title last held by Charles Adamu	ABU super-middleweight champion 13 September 2008 – April 2009 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Flash Issaka
New title	WBO Africa light-heavyweight champion 13 June 2009 – September 2009 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Vikapita Meroro
Preceded by Doudou Ngumbu	WBC International light-heavyweight champion 31 October 2009 – July 2010 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Himself
Preceded by Doudou Ngumbu	ABU light-heavyweight champion 31 October 2009 – July 2010 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Doudou Ngumbu
Vacant Title last held by Himself	WBC International light-heavyweight champion 26 March 2011 – January 2012 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Joey Vegas
Vacant Title last held by Jean Pascal	NABF light-heavyweight champion 14 March 2015 – August 2015 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Vacant Title last held by Sullivan Barrera	WBC International light-heavyweight champion 16 March 2018 – July 2018 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Serge Michel
Minor world boxing titles
Vacant Title last held by Peter Manfredo, Jr.	IBO super-middleweight champion 19 June 2010 – January 2011 Vacated	Vacant Title next held by Thomas Oosthuizen

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Isaac Chilemba record". Boxrec. 17 May 1987. Retrieved 2 June 2014.

[2] "Malawian boxer beats Ghanain". Africa News. 25 January 2014. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2014.

[3] Ngasa times | Malawi's Chilemba wins WBO African title Archived 5 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine

[4] Ngasa Times | Malawi's Chilemba wins WBC light heavyweight title Archived 4 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[5] "Veep still in cabinet─experts". 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

[6] Kulani Nkuna (7 June 2010). "Chilemba to take over Bolling title shot". Business Day. Retrieved 2 June 2014.

[7] Africa News | Malawian beats Aussie to claim IBO belt

[8] Sy Lerman, Sapa (7 November 2010). "so called war ends in a draw". Times Live. Retrieved 2 June 2014.

[9] "Nation on Sunday | Chilemba takes USA by storm". Nationmw.net. Retrieved 2 June 2014.

[10] "Namibia Sport | Meroro loses to Chilemba". Archived from the original on 1 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.

[11] Esco, Wil (4 August 2018). "HBO Results: Dmitry Bivol dominates Isaac Chilemba to retain light heavyweight title". Bad Left Hook. Retrieved 6 February 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]