ZIMBABWE’s former Commonwealth flyweight boxing champion Alfonso Zvenyika is living a father’s nightmare with his eight children accusing him of being the source of their misfortune.
His son, Norman, says the boxing icon’s eight children did not go beyond primary school and cannot get formal employment because they do not have identification documents.
Alfonso’s children, from three wives, accuse their father of using charms during his heydays, charms they claim helped the boxer to win bouts but their lives are now victims of the spiritual ornaments..
Alfonso admitted he was at loggerheads with his children but denied using Juju.
“Firstly, I never used juju in my career, it was pure God given talent. There are some people who are feeding my children with wrong information,”he says.
Alfonso’s eldest daughter Margaret together with her brother Norman said they did the unthinkable and beat up their father after he refused to address their plight.
“Yes, we beat him up because our lives are miserable due to the effects of the lucky charms he took for boxing. We are four girls but only one is married and the rest our marriages are just collapsing because of his juju. We are also made spiritual wives by his things,” Margaret says.
Norman weighed in saying all the eight children of the former Commonwealth champion did not go beyond grade seven.
“Right now we can’t get formal employment because we don’t have identification documents. We couldn’t proceed with education because he failed to take documentation for us,” Norman says.
Zvenyika insisted “there are some people who are feeding my children with wrong information”.
“I went with them to a prophet but nothing was said to that effect. As for the birth certificates, my first wife died before I could obtain the documents and the other wives I married also don’t have identification particulars so that’s the reason why I couldn’t obtain for my children,” Alfonso says.
The former Commonwealth champion insisted he would do all he can to solve the strained relations with his children’.
Alfonso has enjoyed the best of both worlds having risen to prominence from the poverty stricken township to star in rings across Australia, Scotland, England, Zambia and Tanzania.
His exploits on the canvas saw him bag the Commonwealth title in 1998 after knocking out Scottish boxer Paul Weir in England.
A victim of a broken family, Alfonso learnt to fight for survival before he could even throw a punch.
As early as five years old he was moving through shebeens and bars in Mbare selling cigarettes as well as engaging in all manner of social ills to help his mother fend for the family.
He only enrolled into Grade One when he was 11-years-old, four years after many of his age mates had forgotten they had walked that route.
But just like everything else in his life, his schooling on lasted one term and he was already a school dropout.
It was only when a boxer saw his predicament and pulled him out of the fire by introducing him to the top sport when he was 12-years-old, that a ray of hope shone on his path.
He would later go under the wings of Langton School boy Tinago and later the Zimbabwe National Army.
At 17, the then rising fly weight champion had he turned professional in bid to start cashing in on his talent.
His ability to duck punches from heavier opponents soon earned him the moniker Mosquito.
His popularity would however sore after he knocked out Scotland’s Paul Wier in the 11th round to win the Commonwealth Light Flyweight title on January 20 1998.
That victory rocked the state house with then President Robert Mugabe remarking that Alfonso had knocked out imperialism.
However, without a schooling background to help inform his actions, his life away from the ring was nothing short of tragic.
A conviction of theft at the turn of the millennium proved to be the final straw.
He went on to serve one year eight months behind bars.
“All the money I made I spent it,” he recalls with a smile still on his face.
“If only I earned that money with the knowledge I have now I will be somewhere. Life has been my greatest teacher. The only asset I have is my life,” he says.