Martin Power Lays Boxing Revenge Plan For Tshifhiwa Munyai

Spurred on to avenge his only career loss at the hands of South Africa’s “Atomic Spider”, Martin Power has pushed himself to the brink in a bid to topple reigning Commonwealth Bantamweight supremo Tshifhiwa Munyai on Friday, January 26 at the Goresbrook LC in Dagenham, England.

The London based Power already has the British title belt in his trophy cabinet but the setback at the hands of magnificently tall African in July of last year has consumed the St. Pancras man and stoked his competitive fire like no other contest in his 20 bout career.

“Munyai is a freak of nature, he can’t be far off from six feet tall, and at eight stone six (118 lb) he’s amazingly difficult to fight,” seethed Power. “He’s so tall and just totally outboxes his opponents; that’s why he’s given good fighters over here problems but I’m on to him now and he’s in for a big surprise. For me, this is less about the Commonwealth title than a personal thing.”

Munyai came into the first fight with Power as a late replacement and a completely unknown quality. A heavy favorite against the visitor, the twenty six year old was nonetheless caught off guard by a sharp fisted attack that had the Englishman guessing throughout much of the contest before his corner pulled the plug in the ninth round.

While giving full respect to Munyai, Power does pin the loss more on unfamiliarity than anything else. “The first time we fought, I had trained for an opponent six inches shorter than me but what I got on the night was one six inches taller than me,” recalled the British Champion. “All the sparring I had done for the fight didn’t pay off because I had prepared for a completely different type of fighter.”

Power knows the key to victory against Munyai isn’t simply a matter of taking away the height advantage. “I’ve got to do more than just get inside on a taller fighter,” he said. “A couple of months back, Munyai went up against another small fella from England, Lee Haskins, and he was mixing up some beautiful body shots on Haskins. I’ve been sparring with a lot of big fellas this time and I’ve learned to cope with that long reach. I’ll make Munyai fight my fight; he’s in for a big shock.”

Frank Maloney Promotions presents “Payback or Playback?”, the Tshifhiwa Munyai vs. Martin Power Commonwealth Bantamweight Championship rematch at Goresbrook LC in Dagenham, England on January 26, 2007. Undefeated Gary Woolcombe challenges English Light Middleweight Champion Andrew Facey and Brian Magee faces Andrew Lowe in a Final Eliminator for the British Light Heavyweight title. Tickets are available by logging onto www.frankmaloney.com or by calling the Box Office at 0844 477 6466. Sky Sports broadcasts live on SS1 starting at 22:00.