Landile Ngxeke’s defection has unleashed a flurry of bantamweight contenders to ready themselves to contest the SA bantamweight title.
Ngxeke, who has already been mandated to contest the vacant IBF bantamweight belt against Mexican Jose Salas Reyes on a date yet to be determined, is expected to vacate the SA title he won with an injury-enforced fourth-round stoppage of Lusizo Manzana in 2023.
Ngxeke has never defended the belt, raising questions about why Boxing SA never ordered him to do so.
The regulatory body said there had been no challenges for Ngxeke even though top-rated Likho Sigaba publicly challenged the Sada-born champion at a media conference at the Abbotsford Christian Centre in April.
Ngxeke dumped Xaba Promotions three weeks ago to sign with Colin Nathan’s No Doubt Management, a move which ruffled feathers in SA boxing.
XP objected to his defection which BSA dismissed and validated the contract.
This cleared him to proceed with this IBF title, which his camp said he was fully focused on.
The IBF gave him and the Reyes camp 30 days to reach an agreement, failing which the promotional rights would be opened to purse bids.
Despite the order, Nathan said the boxer was yet to decide to vacate the SA title.
“We have not yet taken a decision to vacate the SA belt,” he said.
Already, Sigaba’s camp is eyeing the developments with keen interest after a long wait for the title shot.
“We will see what happens and take it from there, but we want to fight for the title,” Sigaba’s trainer, Nkoi Matshoba, said.
Sigaba is likely to be mandated to battle for the title against second-ranked Akani Sambu.
Sigaba, who also holds the provincial title in the division, was last in action in April when he scored a fifth-round stoppage win over Celimpilo Ngema to maintain his unbeaten record of seven wins with four stoppages.
Sambu has fought two more bouts with a single loss and a draw, with East London likely to be the venue due to Sigaba having an influential promoter, Xaba Promotions, behind him.
Sigaba’s stablemate, Moyisi Booi, recently won the SA junior-bantamweight title in an XP-promoted show.
Daily Dispatch
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