Duncan Village boxing star Phumelela Cafu may have failed to set the stage on fire in his ring return at the weekend, but his management is prepared to unleash him for a world title shot.
Considered the best SA boxer, Cafu returned after more than a year’s absence to beat Filipino Jemuel Aranas on points in a harder-than-expected junior-bantamweight clash in Germiston on Saturday.
The win helped him bounce back to the title mix since surrendering his WBO belt to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in a unification clash also involving the American’s WBC and Ring titles in July 2025.
Cafu’s manager, Colin Nathan, expressed delight with the win despite Cafu struggling to find his rhythm in the early rounds when he could not put his punches together.
Cafu attributed the lacklustre display to ring rust, insisting he would have performed better had he been more active in the ring.
“I give my performance a B rating because of ring rust,” he said.
Nathan admitted that Cafu’s long layoff affected him as he had to shed excess weight to come down to the junior-bantamweight limit.
“His weight ballooned up to 70kg, and I wondered if he would be able to come down to the junior-bantamweight limit of 52kg,” he said.
Nathan confirmed that he contemplated contesting the fight in the catchweight, but Cafu assured him that he would be able to come down to junior-bantamweight.
“He worked his butt off, and I am proud of his work ethic.”
However, the massive weight reduction nearly backfired as Cafu appeared stiff, missing with his punches despite Aranas being right in front of him.
He loosened up as the bouts progressed and was able to display punch fluidity, with his jab constantly finding the target en route to a unanimous decision win.
Two judges gave him a 96-94 score, which appeared a bit generous to the Filipino.
The third had him winning by 97-94, paving the way to vault himself into the title mix.
Though Cafu was expected to dominate and even stop the 21-year-old Filipino who was fighting outside his country for the first time, Nathan said his charge would be steered right to a world title shot.
“If an opportunity to go after a world title comes, we will take it in a heartbeat.
“We are monitoring the situation to see where this win will put us while working on other things.”
Cafu could get a shot at his old WBO belt now held by Japanese Kenshiro Teraji, who is promoted by Teiken Promotions.
The prospect was enhanced by Nathan thanking the Japanese promotions for Cafu’s win, though he declined to reveal the role they played in it.
However, he signed a partnership with Akihiko Honda, who heads Teiken, making the Cafu-Teraji fight easy to make.
It would not be the first time Nathan’s boxer fights Teraji, with the Japanese having previously beaten his charge, Hekkie Budler, in a WBC junior-flyweight title clash in 2023.
Daily Dispatch
