Mthokozisi Ngxaka and Thami Luthuli will be crossing their fingers that Suyakholwa Kuse wins on Friday so that their clash gets elevated to an SA title fight.
Ngxaka and Luthuli face off in an eight-round mini-flyweight clash in a Last Born Promotions (LBP) tournament at East London’s Orient Theatre on December 15.
The fight will pit the two top-rated contenders against each other in the mini-flyweight division, raising questions about the wisdom of matching them in a non-title clash when they would be expected to wait until champion Kuse vacates his title.
Kuse meets Beavan Sibanda for the WBC silver mini-flyweight title at Emperors Palace on Friday, with the winner expected to get mandated to contest for a world title elimination bout.
Kuse’s manager, Mla Tengimfene, who also manages Ngxaka, said the clash between Ngxaka and Luthuli had already been tentatively approved as a SA title fight.
“If Kuse beats Sibanda he will immediately vacate and the clash between Ngxaka and Luthuli will be elevated to a vacant SA title bout,” he said.
Tengimfene said the decision had been communicated to BSA and both camps had signed the agreement.
Ngxaka was in action just six weeks ago when he dethroned Siphesihle Sityo with a ninth-round stoppage for the Eastern Cape title in Mthatha to cement his top spot in the ratings.
He and Sityo were expected to contest for Kuse’s SA title, only for Kuse to refuse to relinquish the crown before his fight against Sibanda.
But Tengimfene said Kuse would vacate the belt if he beat Sibanda, opening the way for Ngxaka to contest for the title.
“This is not to mean that we are not confident of Kuse’s chances against Sibanda but this is boxing so one needs to safeguard his interests.
“We could have vacated the belt for Ngxaka and Sityo to contest it but we decided not to.
“But Ngxaka convinced us with his performance against Sityo that he is ready for the title.”
Ngxaka has come full circle after a shaky spell when he suffered back-to-back losses to Filipino Jake Amporo and Sibanda, leading him to hop from one stable to the other until he settled at Tengimfene’s All Winners Boxing Club, where he regained his form.
His bout against the unbeaten Luthuli will be part of the LBP show dubbed Southpaw Feast Festival due to all the fights featuring a left-handed boxer.
The tournament will be headlined by Azinga Fuzile, who is taking on Filipino Eduardo Mancito in an international junior-lightweight clash.
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