Mwakinyo goes up Boxrec rankings as Kiduku drops

Dar es Salaam. Professional boxer in the country Hassan Mwakinyo continues to hold on to his position among the top five boxers in Tanzania while also rising globally.

According to the World Boxing Rankings website (Boxrec), Mwakinyo is now ranked 43rd out of 1,748 boxers worldwide in the middleweight division.

As of January this year, the boxer, who moved up from super welterweight, was ranked 89th, although he had previously reached 14th in the world in 2018 after defeating Sam Eggington in the UK.

Since then, he has been experiencing ups and downs. According to the Boxrec, Mwakinyo has three stars, up from two and a half stars.

In Tanzania, the boxer has maintained his number one spot in his weight class and remains fourth in the pound-for-pound rankings.

His manager, Hudhaifa Hudhaifa, said the result marks the beginning of their boxer's return to his record form, as they expect him to climb higher if his recent match result is included in Boxrec.

Mwakinyo defended his WBO world title by defeating Patrick Allotey of Ghana by TKO, a match that caused confusion after it was not held on May 31 and was postponed to the night of June 2.

Kiduku drops

Apart from Mwakinyo, Twaha Kiduku has fallen in his super middleweight division from first to second place, and in the pound-for-pound rankings in Tanzania, he has dropped four places.

According to Boxrec, Kiduku is now ranked 102nd out of 1,523 boxers worldwide and ninth in Tanzania's pound-for-pound, while in his weight class he is second, having been overtaken by Selemani Kidunda, who is number one in the super middleweight and ninth in the pound-for-pound.

Kiduku's coach, Power Ilanda, said his boxer’s drop is due to not fighting for a long time. "Boxrec often lowers rankings for inactivity, and that’s what happened to us. Kiduku hasn’t fought for a long time; we are still awaiting as Kiduku continues light training," said Ilanda.

Fadhili Majiha number one

Notable professional boxer Fadhili Majiha, who fights in the bantamweight division, has maintained his number one spot in Tanzania, a position he has held for over six months. The boxer, who once fought Jerwin Ancajas in the undercard of the main fight between Manny Pacquiao and Chris Algieri in Macau in 2014, has three and a half stars and is also ranked 17th worldwide in his weight class.

His last defeat was in 2019 when he lost on points to Andrew Selby in Newcastle. Since then, he has not lost any of the seven fights he fought that year until his last fight in October last year, when he defeated Bongani Mahlangu of South Africa on points.

"I have been number one for a long time because I do not pick easy fights; I fight tough opponents who help boost my ranking when I beat them," said Majiha.

The second position is held by Ibrahim 'Class' Mgender, a super featherweight boxer, while Abeid Zugo, who fights in the lightweight division, completes the top three in the pound-for-pound rankings.

Others in the top ten include Mwakinyo, Ibrahim Mafia, Juma Choki, Salimu “Mtango” Jengo, Kidunda, Kiduku, and Fikiri Salum, who is ranked 10th.