# Isaac Chilemba

Miguel Isaac Chilemba Zuze (born 17 May 1987) is a Malawian professional boxer who held the IBO super-middleweight title from 2010 to 2011, and challenged for the WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO light-heavyweight titles in 2016.

## Early professional career

Chilemba made his professional debut in Gauteng, South Africa on 19 October 2005 defeating Thamsanga Tindleni in the 2nd round of a 4 round contest. He compiled a run of eight successive victories before dropping a points decision to Willbeforce Shihepo on 5 July 2007 at the Emperor's Palace in Gauteng. The reverse to Shihepo was immediately rectified in his next fight, again in Gauteng, on 21 November 2007 defeating Shihepo on points over six rounds. Two more fights followed in 2008 resulting in wins over David Basajjamivule and Chamunorowa Gonorenda before Chilemba got the opportunity to fight for the African Boxing Unions super middleweight championship on 13 September 2008. The fight for the title once again took place at the Emperor's Palace and pitched Chilemba against the experienced former Commonwealth champion Charles Adamu with Chilemba winning the fight with a 12 round decision to lift the title.

## Championship fights

In his next fight Chilemba stepped up to light heavyweight and challenged former victim David Basajjamivule for the WBO version of the light heavyweight title. The fight at the Graceland Casino in Mpumalanga took place on 13 June 2009 and resulted in a second victory over the Ugandan. Chilemba followed this up on 31 October 2009 with another title win, this time defeating French based Congolese fighter Doudou Ngumbu to lift the African Boxing Union's light heavyweight version as well as the WBC International title. A first defence of the WBC title was due to have been made on 26 March 2010 with the Malawian travelling to England to meet former British champion Tony Oakey on a Ricky Hatton promoted bill. The fight however never materialised after Oakey lost an English title fight to fellow countryman Danny McIntosh. Following Oakey, the next opponent lined up for Chilemba was to be Rupert van Aswegen but he then chose to retire from the sport altogether leaving the Malawian once again without an opponent.

### IBO World Title

Following the pullout, Chilemba moved back down at super middleweight for the chance to fight undefeated Australian Michael Bolling on 19 June 2010 for the vacant IBO world title. The fight at the Emperor's Palace, resulted in another win for the Malawian and was his fourth title fight in a row in which a different title had been on the line. Chilemba made the first defence of his IBO belt on 6 November 2010 returning to the Emperors Palace and retaining with a gruelling draw against touted South African Thomas Oosthuizen despite being the underdog going into the fight. On 25 February 2011 Chilemba travelled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to fight in the United States for the first time. His opponent, the unbeaten Russian Maxim Vlasov had won all 19 of his previous fights and managed to knock Chilemba down twice in the 8th round. Despite this the Malawian was able to win the fight over the 10 round distance.

#### Chilemba vs. Meroro

Chilemba returned to South Africa for his next fight against Namibian boxer Vikapita Meroro and retained the WBC International light heavyweight title on 26 March 2011 with a unanimous points win.

#### Chilemba vs. Bivol

On August 4, 2018, Chilemba challenged Dmitry Bivol for his WBA light heavyweight belt. Bivol landed 34.5% of his punches compared to Chiilemba's 15.5% and all three judges saw Bivol as the clear winner, scoring the fight 120-108, 120-108 and 112-112 for the champion.

## Professional boxing record

| 40 fights | 27 wins | 10 losses |
| By knockout | 11 | 2 |
| By decision | 16 | 8 |
| Draws | 3 | 3 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 40 | Loss | 27–10–3 | Aleksei Papin | KO | 2 (8), 2:50 | 24 May 2024 | Balashikha Arena, Balashikha, Russia | For vacant WBA Asia East cruiserweight title |
| 39 | Win | 27–9–3 | Mbaruku Kheri | KO | 2 (10), 1:53 | 16 Sep 2022 | The Carousel Casino, Hammanskraal, South Africa | |
| 38 | Loss | 26–9–3 | Osleys Iglesias | UD | 12 | 27 May 2022 | Hala Globus, ul. Kazimierza Wielkiego 8, Lublin, Poland | For vacant IBO International and vacant WBA Inter-Continental super middleweight titles |
| 37 | Loss | 26–8–3 | Pavel Silyagin | UD | 12 | 26 Nov 2021 | USC Soviet Wings, Moscow, Russia | For WBC Silver super-middleweight title |
| 36 | Draw | 26–7–3 | Fedor Chudinov | SD | 10 | 20 Feb 2021 | Crocus City Hall, Krasnogorsk, Russia | |
| 35 | Win | 26–7–2 | Alexander Kubich | UD | 8 | 13 Dec 2019 | P.A.O.K. Sports Arena, Thessaloniki, Greece | |
| 34 | Loss | 25–7–2 | Maxim Vlasov | UD | 12 | 20 Jul 2019 | Central Square, Gelendzhik, Russia | For vacant EBP light-heavyweight title |
| 33 | Loss | 25–6–2 | Dmitry Bivol | UD | 12 | 4 Aug 2018 | Etess Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | For WBA light-heavyweight title |
| 32 | Win | 25–5–2 | Blake Caparello | UD | 12 | 16 Mar 2018 | The Melbourne Pavilion, Flemington, Australia | Won vacant WBC International light-heavyweight title |
| 31 | Loss | 24–5–2 | Oleksandr Gvozdyk | RTD | 8 (10), 3:00 | 19 Nov 2016 | T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | For NABF light-heavyweight title |
| 30 | Loss | 24–4–2 | Sergey Kovalev | UD | 12 | 11 Jul 2016 | Divs Hotel, Yekaterinburg, Russia | For WBA (Undisputed), IBF, and WBO light-heavyweight titles |
| 29 | Loss | 24–3–2 | Eleider Álvarez | MD | 12 | 28 Nov 2015 | Videotron Centre, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada | For WBC Silver light-heavyweight title |
| 28 | Win | 24–2–2 | Vasily Lepikhin | UD | 10 | 14 Mar 2015 | Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Won vacant NABF light-heavyweight title |
| 27 | Win | 23–2–2 | Cory Cummings | TKO | 7 (10), 2:28 | 2 Aug 2014 | Revel Atlantic City, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 26 | Win | 22–2–2 | Denis Grachev | UD | 10 | 15 Mar 2014 | Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 25 | Win | 21–2–2 | Michael Gbenga | UD | 8 | 16 Nov 2013 | Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, U.S. | |
| 24 | Loss | 20–2–2 | Tony Bellew | UD | 12 | 25 May 2013 | The O2 Arena, London, England | For WBC Silver light-heavyweight title |
| 23 | Draw | 20–1–2 | Tony Bellew | SD | 12 | 30 Mar 2013 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | For WBC Silver light-heavyweight title |
| 22 | Win | 20–1–1 | Rayco Saunders | UD | 8 | 29 Sep 2012 | Foxwoods Resort Casino, Ledyard, Connecticut, U.S. | |
| 21 | Win | 19–1–1 | Edison Miranda | UD | 10 | 3 Feb 2012 | Texas Station Casino, North Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |
| 20 | Win | 18–1–1 | Jameson Bostic | KO | 2 (8), 1:48 | 1 Oct 2011 | Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 19 | Win | 17–1–1 | Vikapita Meroro | UD | 10 | 26 Mar 2011 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | Won vacant WBC International light-heavyweight title |
| 18 | Win | 16–1–1 | Maxim Vlasov | UD | 10 | 25 Feb 2011 | Million Dollar Elm Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. | |
| 17 | Draw | 15–1–1 | Thomas Oosthuizen | SD | 12 | 6 Nov 2010 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | Retained IBO super-middleweight title |
| 16 | Win | 15–1 | Michael Bolling | UD | 12 | 19 Jun 2010 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | Won vacant IBO super-middleweight title |
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Doudou Ngumbu | UD | 12 | 31 Oct 2009 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | Won WBC International and African light-heavyweight titles |
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | David Basajjamivule | UD | 12 | 13 Jun 2009 | Graceland Hotel Casino, Secunda, South Africa | Won vacant WBO Africa light-heavyweight title |
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Charles Adamu | UD | 12 | 13 Sep 2008 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | Won vacant African super-middleweight title |
| 12 | Win | 11–1 | Chamunorwa Gonorenda | KO | 4 (6) | 15 Jul 2008 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 11 | Win | 10–1 | David Basajjamivule | TKO | 8 (8) | 29 Apr 2008 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 10 | Win | 9–1 | Willbeforce Shihepo | PTS | 6 | 21 Nov 2007 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 9 | Loss | 8–1 | Willbeforce Shihepo | PTS | 6 | 5 Jul 2007 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Godfrey Nene | TKO | 2 (6) | 12 May 2007 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Charles Chisamba | PTS | 6 | 27 Mar 2007 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Emmanuel Gwala | TKO | 4 (6) | 1 Dec 2006 | Orlando Communal Hall, Soweto, South Africa | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Ronnie Lategan | TKO | 2 (4) | 17 Nov 2006 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Mark Sloane | PTS | 4 | 11 Jul 2006 | Emperor's Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Sithembiso Ngcobo | KO | 1 (4), 1:18 | 25 May 2006 | Carnival City, Brakpan, South Africa | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Oupa Mahlangu | TKO | 4 (4) | 10 Feb 2006 | Graceland Hotel Casino, Secunda, South Africa | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Thamsanqa Tindleni | TKO | 4 (4) | 19 Oct 2005 | Carnival City, Secunda, South Africa | |