By Kalumiana Kalumiana
David Mwale is the new World Boxing Council (WBC) international bantamweight champion after beating Ghanaian Michael Decardi by unanimous decision yesterday in the early hours of Sunday morning at Government Complex in Lusaka.
The WBC international bantamweight title is Mwale’s second major crown after the African Boxing Union belt he won in 2022.
Mwale dominated the tenacious Dercadi from round 1 to round 12 and credit goes to the Ghanaian’s defensive skills and solid chin.
It was a particularly one-sided affair in the early rounds that saw the 26-year-old Mwale completely outbox his 22-year-old opponent in the first four rounds scoring 40-36.
Mwale then went on to record a knock-down on Dercadi in round 5 to put some distance on the judges scorecards.
But Mwale was docked points in round 6 for pushing Dercadi when they tangled on the ropes and his opponent fell through the ropes.
Dercadi then briefly emerged from his defensive shell in round 7 but Mwale went on to completely dominate the 8th round.
From the 10th to the 12th round, Mwale’s ferocious shots and hooks to Dercadi’s body did little to wear down or punish the endurance of the Ghanaian boxer who also impressively dodged the barrage from the Zambian boxer.
The scorecard in the end told the full story of Mwale’s domination with the unanimous decision from all three judges.
Mwale scored 119-108, 118-108 and 118-108 to lift the vacant WBC international bantamweight belt.
He improved his professional record to 11 wins without a loss while Dercadi sustained back-to-back defeats to see his record stand at 7 wins to 2 losses.
The WBC international belt is a ticket into the WBC’s top 40 rankings that now gives Mwale an opportunity to fight his way to reach the top 10 in the world that guarantees a contender’s place for the main WBC bantamweight title.
