Amila Gongqa was showered with praise after he bowed out of the IBA World Youth Championships on a razor-thin points loss to Tajikistan’s Damir Muibalikhonov in Montenegro on Monday night.
The 16-year-old Duncan Village southpaw, affectionately known as “Auditor General”, was the only boxer of the five-member SA team to advance to the last 16, after winning two bouts.
Having stopped Simanschii Nichita of Moldova in his previous fight, Gongqa, whose crippling power has made him a feared fighter, engaged in an epic battle with Muibalikhonov, with the lightweight bout swinging to and fro, leaving the outcome in the hands of the judges.
The five judges were split on the winner, with two of them voting for Gongqa and three giving the nod to Muibalikhonov.
The SA National Boxing Organisation (Sanabo) congratulated Gongqa on his performance, saying it underlined his international credentials.
“He showed what a talented youngster he is and the future is bright for him as he continues to develop his game,” it said in a statement.
Gongqa’s trainer, Mzamo Njekanye, who trains the boxer in his dilapidated Duncan Village Boxing Academy, popularly known as the “Million Dollar Club”, said he was satisfied with how his charge performed against Muibalikhonov.
“To me, he did all he was supposed to do to win the bout and like two of the judges [I believe] he deserved the outcome,” he said.
“I was amazed by how composed he was and his punch selection, which scored more points than his opponents.
“But as we know in open boxing, the outcome is not only determined in the ring but by other factors so to us AG is the winner.”
Gongqa, a grade 11 pupil at Ebenezer Majombozi High School in Gompo, is set to form the core of the SA team which is being started afresh after the exodus of its members to the professional ranks.
Sanabo said the youth team had been sent to Montenegro to gain experience and benefit from International Boxing Association (IBA) programmes.
“It is crucial that we expose our young boxers to such programmes at an early stage so that they develop within the international fold,” it said.
Njekanye said Gongqa would continue to polish his boxing technique in pursuit of other international opportunities.
“I see a world champion in this boy and I am never wrong in these predictions.”
Njekanye’s other charge, Simnikiwe Bongco, won the Commonwealth Games bronze medal in Birmingham in 2022.
Azinga Fuzile, who he also trained, went on to challenge for the IBF world junior lightweight title, losing to Japanese Kenichi Ogawa at Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York in November 2021.
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