Former amateur star Sinovuyo Mthintelwa has thrust his name into the group of Mthatha fighters taking boxing by storm between the flyweight and bantamweight divisions.
The 23-year-old finally made his professional debut, scoring a third-round stoppage victory over Nkosana Mofokeng, in a junior bantamweight clash at Vodacom Dome in Midrand a fortnight ago.
By breaking into the professional ranks, Mthintelwa, who goes by the “Pink One” moniker and shares his training home with SA's lone world champion Sivenathi Nontshinga, is tipped to go all the way and possibly emulate his stablemate.
He has joined Mthatha homeboys Tiisetso Matikinca and Asekho Nocele, who are making noise in the bantamweight division with unbeaten records.
The 20-year-olds command lofty ratings boasting replica records of five fights and three stoppages with expectations rising for them to face each other in the ring as they are based in Cape Town and Johannesburg under separate trainers.
Matikinca, one of the most successful amateur boxers in the SA team before ditching it to fight for pay, cemented his status by beating experienced Rofhiwa Nemushungwa in the same Midrand show.
Beating Nemushungwa, who was unlucky not to get the nod in his SA title clash against the late Ronald Malindi, while also dropping a spirited decision to IBO junior bantamweight champion Ricardo Malajika underlined Matikinca's talent as a future champion.
Not to be left behind is another Mthatha product, Samkelo Sotomela, who is also making waves a division lower and is on the verge of challenging for the flyweight title.
While the progress of his homeboy is motivating him to go for the honours, Mthintelwa is willing to bide his time and get proper seasoning after tasting the paid ranks.
“We are happy with how he performed in his professional debut and now that he has tasted it he will relax,” Mthintelwa's trainer, Thembani Gopheni, said.
Gopheni knows what he is talking about as he guided his son Nontshinga's career to world honours.
“It was also like this with Sive when he started and there were bouts he nearly came unstuck, but he regrouped and corrected his mistakes.
“There is so much pressure on Mthintelwa because of his amateur pedigree, but I was happy with his composure and punch selection in his first fight in the paid ranks.
“He will come through on his own as he gets used to the professional set-up.”
Nocele's exploits in Cape Town, where he holds the provincial title, have already attracted Colin Nathan's attention, which speaks volumes about his talent.
This means the bantamweight division, where the title is held by Matikinca's promotional stablemate Landile Ngxeke, could be disputed in Mthatha as another boxer from the area, Lusizo Manzana, is also in contention.
Manzana, who is Mthintelwa's close friend and stablemate, suffered a shoulder injury when he contested the vacant belt against Ngxeke and has since undergone successful surgery to launch another go at the belt.
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