The camp of East London boxing prospect Sanele Sogcwayi has denied that his deal with Golden Gloves Promotion (GGP) had ended after the boxer was mysteriously excluded from the promotion’s tournament at Emperors Palace recently.
Sogcwayi was signed by GGP boss Rodney Berman in July amid fanfare with bold predictions that he would be the next world champion after his stellar amateur career.
To spice up his arrival announcement party, he was lined up to feature in the GGP show together with his brother, Mhlanganisi, who campaigns in the lightweight division.
However, eyebrows were raised when the siblings were suddenly pulled out with no reason given, with critics fearing that he had fallen out of favour before making a professional debut.
Some cited a similar occurrence which had befallen another East London boxer, Azinga Fuzile, who was also earmarked to return under the GGP fold only for the deal to fall off.
But Sogcwayi’s manager, Thembelani Shakes Hlombe, insisted the boxer was still part of the GGP stable and would make his debut in the Last Born Promotions (LBP) show scheduled to be held in East London on December 15.
“The reason for his non-appearance in the GGP show last month was because he was not yet licensed,” he said.
“When that came to light, we decided to withdraw him and since Mhlanganisi was to play a cameo role in the show he was also pulled out.”
Boxing fans feared Sogcwayi had been dealt a similar blow to Simnikwe Bongco who was recently released from his contract with Colin Nathan’s No Doubt Management after his underwhelming debut when he was held to a draw by Zimbabwean Ashington Ziwakaya in July.
Bongco, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, was also signed amid fanfare with high expectations, but has since returned from Johannesburg to Duncan Village under his childhood mentor Mzamo “Chief” Njekanye.
Hlombe said his charge had not received similar treatment, insisting that GGP had bought a slot in the LBP event to honour their deal.
“GGP are even paying for the bout and that shows they still hold Sogcwayi in high regard.”
LBP and GGP recently struck a co-promotional agreement which will kick off on December 6 when Siyakholwa Kuse clashes against Beavan Sibanda for the WBC silver mini-flyweight title at Emperors Palace.
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