A home town decision heralded female teenage bantamweight Catharine Phiri arrival on the big stage with victory over Nathalie Forget on Saturday night in Lusaka.
The 20-year-old boxer ground-out to a split point decision victory in a grueling 10-round contest over her Canadian rival at Government Complex in Lusaka.
Phiri dominated the opening seven rounds before her gas tank started to run low in the latter three rounds that Forget dominated.
38-year-old Forget, with an impressive football work, pressed from round one despite being behind on the judges’ scorecards but never rattled Phiri with any dangerous punches.
Forgets hooks flew wildly and her attempts to draw Phiri to fight on the inside to try and get a decisive uppercut failed to yield any result as the Zambian kept a tight guard before dodging her way out of a potential slugfest.
Phiri’s strategy to fight on the outside and let Forget dictate the pace while the Zambian jabbed and landed hooks helped put her firmly ahead up to the 8th round.
However, fatigue set in for Phiri who had prior to Saturday only fought four-round bouts in her previous four fights.
The experienced Forget set in with body shots that clearly wore-out Phiri from round 8 to 9.
However, a late burst of energy in the final round from Phiri gave a marginal lead again although a draw in this instance would have been a fair result in this modest 10-round contest.
ok…nice
We are a wining country. Thank God for PF, people are motivated becoz we have hope that our country is on the right path to prosperity.
The Girl is Good very very Good. I enjoyed the match!!:d
Congrats Cathy! Your hard work and determination are yielding fruit. Word of caution though, don’t let the success make you big-headed! Stay humble and focused, and the future will be bright for you! Good luck girl!!
The young lady started well but almost lost it. Thankfully, she upped her game in the last round again. Catherine Phiri appears a bit more educated than the BIG Esther.
The Young Lady lost all the rounds,She tryed but the experienced was there,the name from that experience is Nathalie Forget from Canada.
LT, what is “football work” in boxing? Did you mean footwork as in the restless dancing around intimidating the opponent?
I witnessed the first 3 rounds and it was very fast and intertaining.The girls were good.The boxing was very advanced as compared to the first two matches we watched.Well done Catherine the sky is the limit.
Please can someone post videos of the fight on youtube
boza. forget deserved at least a draw. phiri should seriously work hard. she only won due home advantage.she has long way and as her opponent said she has lots of potential
zambians-always doubting themselves. umwaice aliwina period!!!
In zambian sport b it football or boxing its always a hand of God which helps  us win.when will we have a convincing win.
You have a Human decisions is not God who give you a help.
It was a well-deserved, hard-earned win for Katie. We loved you more young girl.
catherine please dont relent on hard work. you can make it big time as you have the potential. the sky is the limit. keep it up.
If a Lusaka trained, 20 year old, fights 10 rounds, without being knocked down.. then she was the winner. A Canadian has better diet, training facilities, weather etc. Phiri won finito.
What do you know about the like from other peoples??Did you saw the fight??Be modest by yourself and tell my Who was the real Winner?
Forget love boxing and trainning,Ck in YouTube the way she trainning.Phiri after the 1° round start to run away,because she get hurt.Forget is a real woman,Phiri is a Kid.
TWENTY IS NOT A TEEN.
She is young and good as compared to the 38 year old Forget. Infact the 18 years difference in age makes Forget is as good as a mother to catherine
What does this mean exactly?
The 18 years difference make that the fight was winning by Forget and not for Catherine,Forget give to Catherine a good lessons from boxing,and even if you don’t want to see Forget is better boxer that Catherine,Zambia Have a Kid learnning how to boxing not a Real Woman that know boxing.
20-year old Teenager? Is that a nickname or is this another of the usual sloppy editorial skills we have come to expect? Anyhow, congratulations to Catherine. Â I am sure she will continue to make us proud!
Inseko ine, kekekeke. Guys ati Cathy alipuma ba nyina. Cathy ulekwata umuchinshi iwe. OK. Cathy you won the match. Your mother Natalie Forget sustained a cut on cheek bone. After the match, she had Doctors called in to examine her cut and rattling arm. She is fine though, tantalising Forget, the 38 year old Canadian.
I don’t know if you can reading or write english,but Forget markers easy at her face even in Amater Boxing,Yeah is truth she break her hands in 2° or 4° round,but she still fighting and none saw anything,Yeah is truth she give a boxing lessons to Catherine.Don’t ask to respect if you don’t respect peoples.
Remenber that Catherine win by Local decision.
I don’t know if you can reading or write in english,Forget get markers easy even in Amators fights,Oh Yeah is truth she break her hands in the 2° or 4° round but somebody remarked…… and she still fighting to the end with… the same power,Forget give to Catherine a good lesson from boxing,After the 2° round Phiri give sign from fatigue….,but she is Younger that Forget…..,and Forget keepping fighting to the end.May be it’s better for you if you get some news about Bernard Hopking,He win a fight with a world Champion Jean Pascal.Respect peoples if you want to be respected.
I saw the fight on Znbc TV and it was really good. Cathy is a very good fighter and really jabbed like a guy with excellent timing. She has the talent. Her footwork was also good not to underrate Forget who was equally good for a muzungu at her age. Cathy has a future if she can maintain discipline and hardworking that lack in most of our sports men and women. She should really work hard and take most of her fights far otherwise when she tires she tends to lose guard. All the same she is good and fights well. Her Fight was more entertaining than for some of those men who were just making movements in the ring and showed no spark.
What’s the meaning of ‘home town decision win’.
It is Zanglish, so switch to Zanglish and it will make sense
Home town decision simply means the Canadian could have got the decision if the judges were Canadian ! Does that make any sense number 18 ?
Thanks.to put it straight phiri did not win
The Canadian Girl win that fight if you put any judges from any where around the World.
‘Football work’ ?? in boxing? LT your reporters are smoking too much ganja….
Kaili everything they know in sp
ort is football.
Foot work can understandably be mistaken for FOOTBALL WORK…
Thumbs Up to Catherine Phiri, well deserved victory. She truly showed a matured sportsmanship in the way she handled the post-boxing interview, and the English, My G+, am sure she surprised a lot. VIVA PHIRI
20 year old teenager!!!!!!! HaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
I watched the game the girl is good. period!
Can someone take the new champion to America for intensive training.
Home town decision indeed. It was a sad loss for the Canadian who had dominated through out the match.
she is turning 20 soon but still 19 that makes her a teen u dumb asses
I think she won, even the opponent conceded defeat. Only in Zambia where a fellow Zambian success is never appreciated. LT….”home town decision”????????? so u think Forget won that fight??? Come on guys lets appreciate and congratulate winners from Zambia in any sport!!!!! Congrats Catherine and all the best mwaice!
Cathy won but should work hard! Let her also be on the look out for vultures like Willie Nsanda.Look at Esther, I doubt if she will be the same again! Cathy, spend your little earned cash to go to school,still very young and educate yourself so that you can reason rationally unlike some champions!!!!
Yes Catheryn may never Forget the fierce oppozition she got from the Canadian, but to say the rezult waz a so called “home town decizion” iz a huge lack of real journalistic charactor. Even if the fight took place in the USA or indeed Mongolia, any sane pannel of judgez would have given Phiri a pozitive verdict.
I was expecting to see Esther Phiri give moral support to the young lady. Was she there?
Catherine Phiri is good Boxer but not enought to be a World Champion,The decision was local sounded like they steal that fight,I hope everybody will have the opportunity to see that fight,Even the peoples from Zambia saw that Forget won that fight,Forget was prepared for that fight but Phiri was not.Some one proposed to Forget for revanche match but not in Zambia in Sud Africa,People form Zambia are beautyfull,The Juges from Zambia are not Proffessional.
The Media from Lusaka Treat Forget like Old Women,When the fight start silent in the room,The 1° round was good but Forget dominated Phiri,in the 2° round Phiri start to demostrated fatigue,3 and the rests Forget dominated the rounds,I think that in Zambia peoples don’t Know anything about Bernard Hopeking and Jean Pascal, Peoples from America are more just.The Media the 1° Question they asked to Forget was If “She think that she will be the 1° fighter came to Lusaka to win that fight??”,Her answer was” I will do my best in that fight but other think I can’t control I can’t do anything”.Peoples from Zambia givent the fight to Nathalie Forget.Forget is a Woman,She is a kid.
Thanks to every one your comments are very educative may god bless you all
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