Malawi’s Anisha Basheel claims round one TKO in London to win Commonwealth title

Anisha ‘The Massacre’ Basheel of Malawi needed just 130 seconds to see off the challenge of British opponent, Sam ‘SJ’ Smith to win the vacant Commonwealth female lightweight title in London on Friday night.

The 20 year old who also won the African Boxing Union (ABU) female super featherweight title only last December, wasted no time at all in taking control of the fight, dominating and pummelling Smith right from the sound of the bell and within a minute and ten seconds caught the Briton with a powerful hook that sent her sprawling to the canvas. She got up and beat the count of referee Marcus McDonnell but Anisha Basheel wasted no time in getting back to work again, delivering a barrage of punches and uppercuts that Smith had no answers to so much the referee had no choice than to step in and halt the fight at barely with 0:49 left in the very first round with Smith clearly wobbling.

The fight was an undercard of the bill put together by recently retired former world heavyweight champion, David Haye’s Haymaker Promotions at York Hall, Bethnal Green in the English capital.

The young Malawian, popularly called Anisha Bashir improved her budding record to 8-5, with all five losses having come at the beginning of her career, her first five pro fights.

The victory over Smith (fell to 8-2, 4 KOs) also means that the Malawian female slugger’ s eight career wins have all come by way of knockout, which has got her trainer, Clyde Musonda talking tough and calling out the top female boxers in the world.

“Now we are going for any of the world titles, WBC, WBO, IBF and WBA, that’s our target for Anisha and I believe she can be a champion because I’ve seen all these girls who hold those titles and I don’t think they can match up to Anisha,” Coach Musonda told this writer from London the morning after the fight.

“She lost those five fights to two girls when she was turning pro. She started with seasoned boxers so she’s ready for any of the world title holders. Bring it on,” he charged.

Team Anisha are also keen to reward the support of their fans across Africa and even beyond with the championship belt they so crave.

“We need to win these world titles for our fans, we want them to know their support is very important to us, that’s why we will win the world title for them,” Clyde Musonda said.

“Boxing is a sport that needs a lot of financial support, there is a lot to be done in order to achieve your ambitions so we look forward to receiving more support from all fans and loved ones any time,” Musonda added.