Veteran Gauteng boxing trainer Manny Fernandez is banking on repeating the upset he engineered more than two decades ago when he guides Mdantsane’s Siyakholwa Kuse on a mission-impossible world title clash in the Philippines in two weeks.
Kuse will challenge Filipino hero Melvin Jerusalem for the WBC mini-flyweight title in Manila on October 29.
The stage will be set for Jerusalem to win in his home return, with the event scheduled to celebrate the second instalment of the storied Thrilla in Manila involving Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, which took place 50 years ago.
Promoted by the country’s most decorated boxing legend, Manny Pacquiao, with the the country’s President Bongbong Marcos also invited, the script is tailored for Jerusalem to win to complete the celebrations.
However, Fernandez said Kuse was going there to be a party pooper and bring the title back home.
“I am used to guiding an underdog to these kinds of fights when everything is favouring our opponent,” he said.
Fernandez guided the then-unknown Isaac Hlatshwayo to an upset win against big US favourite Nate Campbell in an IBF world title eliminator in 2006.
“Back then, everything favoured Campbell and he was highly rated by all major world sanctioning bodies and was the poster boy for US boxing,” he said.
“But we were confident when we took the fight, just as we are confident with Kuse that he will shock the world.”
Fernandez allayed concerns that Kuse’s first fight abroad might work against him in taking on a seasoned campaigner such as Jerusalem, who has fought outside the comforts of his home.
He won the title when beating favourite Yudai Shigeoka in Japan in March 2024 before repeating the feat a year later.
A two-time world champion, Jerusalem surrendered his first world title, a WBO belt, to Oscar Collazo in the US in 2023.
The loss to Collazo was just his third in 27 bouts for the 31-year-old Filipino, more than doubling Kuse’s 12 bouts with two losses and a draw.
Fernandez said Kuse had been deep in preparation for two months, with his weight gradually coming down to the limit.
“Yesterday, he was 51kg, and when we checked him again, we expected him to be 49kg.”
Though he will work with the Mdantsane southpaw for the first time in a fight situation, Fernandez has been awed by the boxer’s power in training and sparring sessions.
“He hit so hard for his weight and that is what we have been maximising in his preparations because he might need a knockout there to come back with the belt.”
The team has been working to neutralise Jerusalem’s right hand, which is his money punch responsible for his 12 stoppages, though he has not achieved the feat in his last five bouts.
Kuse gave anxious moments in his last bout in June when he was dropped hard by another Filipino, Samuel Salva, before rallying to eke out a unanimous decision win at Emperors Palace.
Kuse’s team, accompanied by his promoter, Golden Gloves Promotion publicist Brian Mitchell, who is also his manager, will leave for Manila next Tuesday.
Daily Dispatch
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.