Duncan Village boxing golden boy Azinga Fuzile will take a shot at redemption when he faces Kazakhstan boxer Sultan Zauberk for the WBA continental junior-lightweight title at the Barys Arena in Astana on April 5.
Besides featuring the WBA-B grade belt, the bout will offer the 28-year-old an opportunity to avenge his brutal loss to an opponent from the Commonwealth of Independent States, formerly under the Soviet Union.
Fuzile suffered an eighth-round knockout loss — his first ever stoppage defeat — to Tajikistan boxer Shavkatdzon Rakhimov in an IBF title eliminator at East London’s Orient Theatre in 2019.
He was able to shake off the loss to march towards an IBF title challenge, losing to Japanese Kenichi Ogawa in New York in 2021.
The losses remain the only blemish in his professional career which is on the resurgence since he teamed up with internationally acclaimed manager Mla Tengimfene.
Fuzile had initially been scheduled to headline a tournament at the Orient Theatre against Argentinian Walter Matias Leiva on March 30.
Tengimfene said Fuzile had since been taken out of the show to honour the bigger opportunity which would vault him back into the world title mix.
“Azinga has been given an opportunity of a lifetime and at his age he is grabbing it with both hands,” he said.
However, some detractors feel the odds are heavily stacked against Fuzile as Zauberk is unbeaten in 19 bouts with 13 stoppages just like Rakhimov was when he lost to him.
And like his Tajikistan neighbour, Zauberk is also a southpaw but will enjoy home-ground advantage in a country in which no SA boxer has ever won a bout.
The fight will be a co-feature to the IBF and WBO middleweight unification defence by another Kazakhstan boxer, Zhanibek Alimkhanuly, against Congo-born Frenchman Anauel Ngamissengue.
The event will be one of the biggest boxing shows in the former Soviet Union states with top promoters such as Bob Arum’s Top Rank one of the organisers.
Tengimfene said Fuzile was taking the fight so seriously that he had already set up camp in Johannesburg under the watchful eye of former world champion Zolani Tete.
“We do not want any distractions but focus to get through this barrier in a foreign land because these opportunities do not come easy,” he said.
Fuzile has won all three his subsequent bouts since losing to Ogawa but beating average African opposition.
His last bout was when he scored a six-round stoppage win over Namibian Sebastianus Natanael in East London in August.
Taking a fellow boxer on a world title quest, rated third by the WBA and fifth by the IBF, in his backyard will be a mammoth task for him and may scupper his own title aspirations.
But Tengimfene defended the bout which was secured with the help of his partner, Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotion.
“A lot of sacrifice has to be made to make the best of the opportunity.”
Daily Dispatch
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