The odds might be stacked against Duncan Village star Phumelela Cafu in his world unification title clash against Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, but his father and ex-fighter Tembisile Mfazwe is confident his son will shock the world on Saturday.
Cafu faces Rodriguez for the WBO, WBC and Ring junior bantamweight titles at The Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas, in one of the biggest boxing schedules in the US and Europe.
The fight to be promoted by British heavyweight promoter Eddie Hearn under his Matchroom Boxing banner will also see American Diego Pacheco facing Trevor McCumby in a super middleweight non-title clash, with giant streaming network DAZN streaming the card worldwide.
Cafu met Rodriguez for the first time this week when the pair promoted the event at the Dallas Cowboys stadium, brandishing their belts.
The 26-year-old Cafu appeared to have a slight edge in height, giving him another psychological advantage in his already overflowing confidence to score an upset.
Odds-makers have listed Rodriguez as the even-money favourite, with Cafu listed as a rank outsider at 12 to 1 to win the fight.
As soon as he was back in his hotel room, Cafu immediately called his father to share his excitement about what he planned to do on Saturday.
“He called me early Wednesday and told me that his confidence of beating Bam had been amplified after meeting him in person,” Mfazwe said.
“I kept reminding him about sticking to the game plan and not allowing himself to be carried away.
“But knowing my son, I could not help detecting the confidence in his voice, and I had to calm him down.”
Cafu was inspired by Mfazwe to follow a career in boxing when he used to take him to a boxing club in Duncan Village at a young age.
Mfazwe also took him to watch his fights at the Orient Theatre in the early 2000s, with Cafu getting hooked on the sport and dropping out of school to fully concentrate on boxing.
The father-son relationship developed as Cafu blitzed through opposition, with the lone blemish being a draw against future stablemate and world title-bound Landile Ngxeke.
His international breakthrough came in October when he travelled to Japan as a heavy underdog to upset four-division world champion Kosei Tanaka to seize the WBO belt.
Mfazwe admitted that Rodriguez was a stronger opponent than Tanaka in pedigree, but dismissed it as a hurdle his son needed to clear to emerge victorious.
“I think Bam’s achievements and pedigree are above Tanaka and the fact he is a home fighter adds to his favourite tag,” he said.
“I see he has already scheduled a fight in November, underlining his confidence of a win, but that is where I think he has made the big mistake.
“My son is super-confident of upsetting their plans and thrusting himself into the spotlight.”
Mfazwe appealed to the Buffalo City Metro to install public viewing spots for people to watch the fight, as some did not have access to DAZN.
Daily Dispatch
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