Mdantsane’s Siyakholwa Kuse may have dumped his team to relocate to Johannesburg, but he had to rely on their advice to scrape through with a points decision in his mini-flyweight clash against Samuel Salva at Emperors Palace at the weekend.
Kuse fought for the first time under new handlers Vusi Mtolo and Manny Fernandez, who train boxers at the Brian Mitchell Academy, since dumping the All Winners Boxing Club in January.
Having been helped by the club to win the WBC silver title and qualify for a world title eliminator after beating Beaven Sibanda in December, Kuse appeared in danger of being knocked out by Salva when he was dropped hard in the first round.
He survived the fall through a combination of holding and a helping hand from referee Ben Ncapayi, who kept restraining Salva from finishing him off by ordering him to wait for his instructions to resume the fight.
This helped Kuse to gain valuable time to recover.
While he regrouped and willed his way back into the fight, he was still eating swings from the Filipino.
It was after his old trainer, Zolani Tete, who trained him at All Winners, approached ringside and barked instructions that Kuse began to assume control of proceedings.
All Winners’ owner and Kuse’s former manager, Mla Tengimfene, confirmed that he told Tete to go and advise the seemingly befuddled boxer.
“We realised that Kuse was fighting the wrong fight and Zolani went to bark advice to him,” he said.
Several people at ringside confirmed that Kuse even turned his head between rounds to listen to Tete’s advice instead of his current handlers.
Ironically, former world champion Mitchell, who was one of the television commentators, had Kuse behind on points until the referee credited him with a questionable knock-down in the ninth round.
Ncapayi initially ruled Salva’s fall a slip but changed his mind when the Filipino limped towards his corner, indicating he had hurt his leg.
Kuse’s promoter, Rodney Berman, who had commended the boxer before the fight, describing him as a future unified world champion, reportedly complained about Kuse’s wild punches during the bout.
There were concerns that Kuse was taking a big risk by facing Salva when he had already been approved to contest the world title eliminator against another Filipino, Joey Canoy, in July.
The WBC warned Kuse of the risks involved, including sustaining a long-term injury which could lead him to be bypassed.
Berman announced that the eliminator had since been pushed back to October 4.
Daily Dispatch
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