By Sheldon Hakata

HIS name is known to many Zimbabweans, especially those who love boxing.

It is a name that carried with it the weight of national expectations while, time-and-again, he delivered when it mattered most.

Did you know that at one time Langton ‘Schoolboy’ Tinago took the responsibility of defending national pride and the flag?

The Patriot Sports, in an interview with the Boxing and Wrestling Council chairman, Richard Geoffery Hondo, last week, was told a story that has sadly been shuffled to the periphery of the country’s boxing history.

The story goes thus:

In the 1970s, Joao Mapepa, a middleweight boxing champion from Mozambique, came for a fight against Zimbabwe’s own middleweight champion, John Fighter.

The Mozambican was a very intimidating boxer who went about daring any boxer worth his salt to face him in the ring — any boxer, any weight.

Mapepa defeated Fighter and went on to call Zimbabwean boxers ‘girls’.

The country had been insulted and there was need for some serious action to repair our damaged pride.

Up stepped Tinago.

He was livid.

Tinago was a reed-thin, lanky 20-year-old then.

But he possessed the spirit of a lion and packed a mean punch with the ferocity of a wounded buffalo.

So with no ounce of fear, Tinago proceeded to see a local boxing promoter, Paul Mangirosa, of Murinye Promotions.

Tinago had no manager at the time. 

He, however, felt the Mozambican had gone too far and had to face the music; Zimbabwe was no country of cowards.

He asked Mangirosa for a chance to fight Mapepa; it was the case of David asking the king to fight Goliath.

The ‘old man’ was astonished, especially considering Tinago’s physical attributes and lack of experience. 

The promoter strongly felt that the Mozambican would end Tinago’s budding career with a single punch.

Tinago defied the older man’s judgment and said:

“Of course he might, but will be held and stuck in one position for that punch. I begging you to make the fight happen, if you are not prepared to organise it I will find someone else who can. How can you allow a foreigner to terrorise us like this?’’

Mangirosa reluctantly agreed terms with Tinago, even though the final say would have to come from the boxing board as the weight difference was huge.

When time for the weigh-in came, Mapepa, during the process roared: “Don’t say you were not warned. I will not be responsible if this brat gets seriously hurt or killed in the ring.’’

Tinago’s source of inspiration was the greatest of them all — Muhammed Ali.

If ever there was any similarity between Ali and Tinago, it was skill in the ring; both could be slippery characters for their opponents.

There were both known for not taking unnecessary punishment in the ring; which well explains their long careers as top class performers.

They were brilliant ring users, thus, you would find them anywhere in the ring. 

They were thrilling entertainers too.    

To make the catch weight minimum, Tinago had to go on the scale weighed down by several coins in his track trunks, fooling and convincing the board officials in attendance.

No one believed Schoolboy would survive the first round; everyone thought Mapepa’s first punch would floor Tinago.

That was the extent to which he was the underdog.

Glamis Stadium, the most elegant stadium in the then Rhodesian capital, Salisbury, was the venue for the big fight.

Tinago had the typical jungle cat instinct; sizing up the opponent’s capabilities and establishing his weaknesses before striking.

Once these parameters were in check, that was when Langton would be at his best.

That is exactly how it went with the Mapepa fight.

The majority thought Mapepa was fooling around with Tinago to give value for their money, but unknown to them, Mapepa’s talent bank was depleted when it came to his lanky opponent — he was plain failing to connect.

Mapepa blasted the air each time he threw his murderous blows and was increasingly getting frustrated.

Tinago summoned his famous left jabs to pile up the points and the left kept on finding Mapepa’s face wherever he tried to hide it.

In the sixth round of the scheduled eight, there was no doubt about the superiority of Tinago’s left jab and no way Mapepa could win points.

Tinago had the scare of his life in round seven as Mapepa could not entertain the thought of lanky Schoolboy going the full distance with him.

A desperate, wild, murderous Mapepa right cross caught Tinago just above the eyebrow to the left and opened a big cut. Blood started to flow profusely down his young face.

Mapepa’s original plan was to send young Tinago crashing to the canvas for the full count, but this, he thought, was just as good.

Pandemonium broke out in Tinago’s corner as the referee stopped the proceedings to assess the damage to his face.

Under the local rules, if the fight was stopped at that juncture, Tinago would be the loser despite being ahead on points.

He would be the one not able to continue, unless the injury was due to foul play.

The ring doctor jumped in and took a look at Tinago’s injury, examined it then advised the referee to stop the fight as he thought it was too deep.

Fortunately for Tinago, the referee had his own judgment as the final authority on such matters.

The referee gave Tinago’s corner half a minute to reduce the free flow of blood from the cut, failing which he would lose the fight.

Fortunately for Tinago, the corner men worked frantically and managed to control the flow.

As Tinago was way ahead on points, the referee obliged.

The cut did not prove a turning point for Mapepa; he threw lots more of those murderous blows, in nine cases out of 10, he missed.

With eagerness to impress the referee, Tinago kept pumping that famous left jab into Mapepa’s face, putting him into disarray.

The pattern continued to the last bell and Tinago came out a unanimous points winner.

Mapepa and everybody else in the stadium stood in disbelief.

It was a small price to pay for defending the country’s pride.

The fight gave Tinago national recognition, respect and instant popularity with promoters; in the process giving birth to the Schoolboy tale.

The Mapepa cut gave Tinago a scar that remained on his forehead till death. 

He was declared a provincial hero on his death on July 17 2018; a status he richly deserved.