The race between two East London boxers over the right to challenge SA featherweight champion Lindelani Sibisi has been won by Bongani Fule.
The Mdantsane-based Makhanda boxer will get his long overdue shot at Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal on March 28 in a quest to return the belt to East London since Sibisi wrested it from Zolisa Batyi with a 10th-round knockout in May.
Fule was in a race against SA junior featherweight champion Siyabulela Hem to get the Sibisi bout after the Duncan Village star exercised his status as a champion to get first preference.
Hem, who is still looking for an opponent for his ring return in February 20, wanted to move up the division to face Sibisi in a battle of SA champions.
The Boxing SA sanctioning committee approved Hem even though acknowledging that Fule submitted the challenge form first.
“We received the challenge form of Bongani Fule, the number two rated featherweight contender, but Hem is the current junior featherweight champion,” the committee informed Fule’s camp.
“Therefore the sanctioning committee approved Siyabulela Hem’s challenge for the SA featherweight title specifically due to clause 11.5, which states that ‘a champion by virtue of his status as a champion has the first preference in a heavier division provided he/she meets all other BSA rules and/or policies applicable to sanctioning’.”
However, it later transpired that Sibisi only signed to defend against Fule, giving the fight the green light.
Fule and his manager, Andile Mshumpela, signed the fight contract at the weekend, ending months of enforcing the challenge since it was first submitted in August.
The unbeaten two-time provincial champion was forced to shelve his title aspirations when he could not agree on terms with the Sibisi camp.
Instead, he took a stay-busy bout against former champion Jeff Magagane, which nearly backfired when he scraped through with a highly debatable split decision.
Magagane appealed the outcome, with his camp requesting Fule’s challenge to Sibisi be delayed until the matter was resolved.
This drew a strong protest from Mshumpela, who insisted that the fight was never an eliminator to challenge Sibisi and therefore should not impact on Fule’s title aspirations.
However, after reviewing the bout, BSA scored it a draw, freeing the stocky boxer to pursue the Sibisi challenge.
Fule’s promoter, Mzi Booi, said he was delighted the fight would finally happen.
“This fight should have happened a while back, but due to a purse dispute, we could not reach a deal,” he said.
“Fule has been waiting patiently for his chance and even agreed to take an interim bout against Magagane to be better prepared, though it nearly cost him.
“Now it is his time to get his day in the sun.”
Sibisi has defended the title since winning it over Batyi, which stretched his fight record to 10 victories with eight stoppages and two losses.
He returned with an international bout, beating Keisham Singh in October.
Fule is yet to taste a loss in eight bouts with four stoppages.
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