Catherine Phiri
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
_(cropped).jpg) Phiri in 2017 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Lusaka, Zambia |
| Weight | |
| Boxing career | |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 21 |
| Wins | 16 |
| Win by KO | 10 |
| Losses | 5 |
Catherine Phiri is a Zambian professional boxer. She held the WBC female bantamweight title from 2016 to 2017 and challenged twice for the WBC female super-bantamweight title in 2017 and 2019.
Phiri debuted on 25 July 2011 when she defeated Zambian boxer Esther Chalwe at the National Sports Development Centre in Lusaka.[1] She won the WBC female bantamweight title by defeating reigning champion Yazmín Rivas on 30 January 2016 in Mexico.[2] She became the first Zambian to win a WBC title.[3]
Her 13th fight was on 27 August 2016 at Lusaka's Government Complex where she retained her WBC title with a first-round stoppage victory against Gabisile Tshabalala.[4] She lost the title in her next fight, suffering the second defeat of her career against Mariana Juárez on 1 April 2017, in Mexico City, Mexico.[5]
On 17 December 2016, she was honoured by the World Boxing Council for being the first boxer from Africa to win the WBC bantamweight title.[6] On 2 November 2017, she was defeated by Fatuma Zarika in a WBC super-bantamweight title fight, losing by unanimous decision with the judges' scorecards reading 97–92, 98–91 and 99–92. Zarika was the defending champion.[7]
A rematch between Phiri and Zarika took place on 3 March 2019 at Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi, Kenya with the WBC title again on the line. Zarika won by unanimous decision.[8]
Phiri faced Zimbabwe's Kudakwashe Chiwandire for the vacant WBC female interim super-bantamweight title on 26 February 2022, at the Government Complex in Lusaka, Zambia, losing by split decision.[9]
Phiri was suspended from all boxing activities for two years in October 2022, after being found to have used a banned substance. She tested positive for the diuretic furosemide after her loss to Chiwandire in February. Phiri admitted her guilt and her ban was backdated to start from May 2022.[10][11][12][13]
Awards
Catherine Phiri was also given an academic scholarship from the Justina Mutale Foundations Scholarship Programme on 9 June 2016. She is expected to go and study Sports Management at the European School of Economics in Italy.[14] President of Zambia Edgar Chagwa Lungu honoured Catherine Phiri with the Zambia insignia of meritorious achievement award for her accomplishment on Africa Freedom Day, 25 May 2017.[15]
