Zambia’s David Mwale retained his WBC International bantamweight title after battling South Africa’s Charlton Malajika to a draw in a closely contested championship fight in Lusaka on 25 July 2026.
The result extended Mwale’s reign as champion, although Malajika’s determined challenge ensured the Zambian was made to work for his belt in front of his home crowd.
The bout was the latest chapter in Mwale’s rapid rise. The Lusaka-born boxer captured the vacant WBC International bantamweight title in June 2025, defeating Ghana’s Michael Decardi Nelson by unanimous decision at the Government Complex in Lusaka. That victory came as part of the WBC’s “Year of Africa” programme and marked a significant milestone in the career of a fighter who had previously held the African Boxing Union bantamweight title.
Mwale subsequently made a successful first defence of the WBC belt against Tanzania’s Ramadhan Pido in January 2026, stopping his challenger in the opening round. The emphatic victory underlined the Zambian’s reputation for speed and accuracy and strengthened his position as one of the country’s leading young boxers.
Against Malajika, however, the champion faced a different test.
The South African entered the contest with a growing reputation of his own and had been on a nine-fight winning streak heading into the challenge. The 25-year-old, who trains at Brian Mitchell’s Boxing Academy in Edenvale, had also held the IBO Youth bantamweight title and arrived in Lusaka determined to take Mwale’s championship back across the border.
The fight lived up to expectations, with neither man able to establish enough of an advantage to convince the judges to award him the victory. After the final bell, the scorecards produced a draw, allowing Mwale to keep hold of the WBC International crown.
For Mwale, aka Sniper, the outcome preserves an unbeaten record and extends his tenure as one of Zambia’s most prominent boxing champions. It also keeps open the possibility of a rematch with Malajika, whose performance demonstrated that he remains a serious contender in the 118-pound division.
The draw also adds another chapter to Mwale’s progression since winning the title last year. Before claiming the WBC belt, he had built his reputation at home through a series of victories, including his 2023 unanimous-decision win over South Africa’s Innocent Mantengu to claim the vacant ABU bantamweight title.
The latest result leaves Mwale with his title intact but also provides a reminder that his path towards the upper levels of the bantamweight division will require increasingly difficult tests.
Malajika, meanwhile, leaves Lusaka without the belt but with his reputation enhanced after pushing the champion to a draw on hostile territory.
With both fighters still firmly in the continental title picture, a second meeting could offer the clearest way to settle an encounter that proved too close to call the first time around.
