The loss in Kazakhstan and the cancellation of his fight in December have prompted Duncan Village boxing golden boy Azinga Fuzile to take a non-title fight against Asanda Gingqi on April 25.
This was revealed by Fuzile’s camp in response to questions on the reasons the left-hander decided to take the fight under a rival promoter with no title at stake.
The fight will be promoted by Gingqi’s promoter Xaba Promotions in a tournament televised by SuperSport at East London’s Orient Theatre.
Fuzile has been battling inactivity since suffering a points loss to Sultan Zaurbek at Barys Arena in Astana in April 2025.
He was scheduled to return against Namibian Sem Matheus at Orient Theatre on December 14, but the tournament was cancelled due to what organisers attributed to logistics surrounding Matheus’s travel to the city.
His manager, Mla Tengimfene, said Fuzile was to return on February 22 as part of the Last Born Promotions tournament scheduled for Peddie.
However, a deal was struck with XP to match him against Gingqi, who holds the SA junior lightweight title, though the belt would not be at stake.
We decided to take the Gingqi fight for the sake of Fuzile’s activity.
— Mla Tengimfene
“We decided to take the Gingqi fight for the sake of Fuzile’s activity,” he said.
“He has been out of the ring for a year, and having fights being cancelled could frustrate a boxer, especially after months of preparations.”
Tengimfene and former promoter Andile Sidinile flew to the US in December to activate networks which were opened in 2019 when Zolani Tete was scheduled to face Nonito Donaire in the World Boxing Super Series.
However, the relations were shelved by the outbreak of Covid-19, plunging the sports industry into an abyss.
Sidinile said their business partners were willing to take Fuzile back to world ratings only if he could return to his winning ways.
“Fuzile still commands a big name in US boxing, having fought there twice, but he needs a win to put him back in the mix,” he said.
“Our guys in the US have even proposed to give him an opponent over there on the basis that we foot all the expenses.”
While the fight against Gingqi has been questioned in other boxing circles, it will be one of the most eagerly anticipated clashes in the province, pitting an SA champion with only one loss in 17 bouts against a world practitioner with just three defeats in 21 outings.
Tengimfene said he had no doubt Fuzile would emerge triumphant despite fighting in enemy territory.
“It is not the first time Fuzile will be fighting in a Xaba tournament and emerge victorious,” he said.
Fuzile got his breakthrough as a four-fight novice in a Xaba tournament by stunning its boxer Macbute Sinyabi to win the SA featherweight title in 2016.
The win propelled him on a path to a world title, which he later got when losing on points against Japan’s Kenichi Ogawa for the IBF junior lightweight title in New York five years later.
The fight in April will mark his return to his stomping ground, the Orient Theatre, since stopping Namibian Sebastianus Natanael there in six rounds in August 2024.
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