By Monwabisi Jimlongo
The magnitude of Sivenathi ‘Special One’ Nontshinga’s fight against Filipino boxer Christian ‘The Bomb’ Araneta has pushed both Nontshinga and his trainer dad Thembani Gopheni to do more.
The kind of preparations and effort that Nontshinga has had ahead of this International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight elimination bout has been doubled compared to how he trained before he met Ivan Sorianos from the Philippines in March 2020.
This is so because whoever wins between the unbeaten Nontshinga and Araneta will challenge current IBF junior-flyweight champion Felix Alvarado from Nicaragua. The Nontshinga-Araneta fight is going to be held at the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino in Gqeberha on Saturday, 24 April.
“We are polishing here and there. We are going to change focus and concentrate on the weight. We have worked very hard for this fight. We had to because this is a very big fight for us. The fact that this is an elimination bout says it all,” Gopheni said.
Nontshinga continues to spar with southpaws Lusizo Manzana, Athenkosi Thongwana and Tisetso Matikinca, a four-time South African amateur champion.
The eight-bout tournament is going to be promoted by Rumble Africa Promotions (RAP).
