Kenya female boxing champion Zarika pleas for title bout sponsors

NAIROBI, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- World Boxing Council (WBC) Super bantamweight women's champion, Fatuma Zarika of Kenya will defend her crown outside the country in May unless she can get a sponsor to have the fight brought to Nairobi.

Zarika is set to put her belt on the line against the winner of the fight between former champion Alicia Ashley of Jamaica and European Boxing Union Super bantamweight champion Dina Thorslund of Denmark.

The Ashley/Thorslund fight is set for March 10 at the Struer Arena in Denmark.

Ashley would meet Zarika for the second time in less than two years should she triumph over the Dane, having been beaten by the Kenyan on a unanimous points decision at the Dort Federal Event Center in Michigan, USA on October 10, 2016.

She successfully defended the title against Zambian Catherine Phiri in Nairobi on December 2, 2017.

"My second title defence was supposed to be in March this year, but I requested WBC to grant me a grace period of three months to look for a sponsor to fund the fight," Zarika explained.

"I had suggested June but WBC settled on May. I'm asking well-wishers to come on board to support me toward this fight. If I don't get a sponsor, I will be forced to either defend the title in USA or Denmark depending on the outcome between Ashley and Thorslund," Zarika told reporters on Thursday.

"Defending a belt in a foreign land is hard going by my experience from international titles," she added. Enditem