East London produced yet another world boxing champion when Thulani Mbenge beat Englishman Michael McKinson to lift the vacant IBO welterweight title at the Copper Box Arena in London at the weekend.
The win comes just days after the area celebrated Phumelela Cafu’s upset victory when he relieved the feared Japanese Kosei Tanaka of his WBO junior-bantamweight belt in Tokyo.
While Mbenge’s feat is low-key in comparison, it brings a second world title to the Buffalo City Metro even though Mbenge lives in Johannesburg.
Mbenge lost the same belt in controversial circumstances to German Sebastian Formela in 2019 with his then promoter, Rodney Berman, promising him an immediate rematch.
However, Berman later cut ties with Mbenge, leaving the Mdantsane-born boxer out in the cold, having to fend for himself to keep his career going.
Mbenge had fought just six times in five years, but after out-slugging Argentinian Leandro Fonseca in March he earned an opportunity to regain his crown against McKinson in a Boxxer-promoted show in London.
Despite facing a boxer with a single loss in 27 bouts, Mbenge dominated the fight from start to finish, with two of the judges giving him a healthy 117-111 margin and the third scoring it 116-112.
The win is expected to vault Mbenge to big fights in the talent-rich division and give him opportunities to be involved in big-money fights before he winds down his career at 33 years old.
Mbenge’s trainer, Sean Smith, who has been with the boxer through thick and thin, said the win was validation of Mbenge’s world-class credentials.
“I have never lost hope in Mbenge and he has proven once again that he should be rated among the top welterweight boxers in the world,” he said.
While Mbenge has been operating without a promoter since he was ditched by Berman, he has positioned himself to fight under several promoters with Boxxer, which is one the top British promoters likely to feature him in its tournaments.
Smith was non-committal on whether he would allow his charge to be signed by Boxxer.
A former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in Glasgow in 2014, Mbenge has performed at an elite level, losing just twice in 23 bouts, suffering his second loss to Senegal-born Frenchman Souleymane Cissokho in a very close fight.
With big names such as Terence Crawford and Errol Spence having left the welterweight division for junior-middleweight, the division is open for boxers such as Mbenge to stake their claims against other world champions, with only Jaron Ennis, who holds the IBF title, considered the big threat.
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