The long layoff contributed to the under-par performance by Emmany “The General” Kalombo, who suffered a unanimous points decision loss over 10 rounds to Israil Madrimov in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, at  the weekend, trainer Damien Durandt admitted.

That was Kalombo’s first defeat after 14 straight wins, which all came by way of knockouts. The 28-year-old World Boxing Federation (WBF) and World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Africa junior-middleweight champion  originally from Congo, who fights out of the Durandt Gym in Johannesburg, had not seen action for 16 months...