Siyakholwa Kuse’s victory against Beaven Sibanda at the weekend was not only his but that of two other boxers, Mthokozisi Ngxaka and Thami Luthuli, who will now battle for Kuse’s vacant SA title on Sunday.
Kuse scored a points win over Sibanda to capture the WBC silver mini-flyweight title at Emperors Palace and immediately vacated the SA title he held coming to the bout.
This paved the way for Ngxaka and Luthuli, who were already scheduled to clash in a non-title bout at East London’s Orient Theatre, having their bout upgraded to a title fight.
Last Born Promotions (LBP) which will stage the fight confirmed that correspondence had already been sent to Boxing SA to approve the fight for the vacant title.
“We had tentatively scheduled for the fight to be elevated to an SA contest if Kuse vacates because it features two top-rated boxers,” LBP’s Mla Tengimfene said.
The boxers had already signed the contract with a clause that their bout might be upgraded to a title clash.
The elevation of the bout has added lustre to the tournament headlined by Azinga Fuzile against Filipino Eduardo Mancito in an international junior-lightweight clash.
Tengimfene said the boosting of the tournament quality had convinced SuperSport to screen it live.
“That is another win we scored in Johannesburg besides Kuse — that of convincing SuperSport to televise the show.
“This is big for Buffalo City Metro as it will host two televised tournaments in one weekend.”
The Xaba Promotions show also scheduled to be held at the same venue recently flagged for defects will also be beamed live on the pay channel.
The event will feature two SA title bouts with a highly anticipated rematch between Duncan Village’s Siyabulela Hem and his veteran victim, Bongani Mahlangu, for the SA junior-featherweight belt.
They will be running it back after Hem controversially dethroned Mahlangu in September in Midrand.
Mdantsane teen Siseko Teyisi will vie for the vacant SA junior-flyweight belt against KwaZulu-Natal’s Mfanuvele Ntuli.
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