By Monwabisi Jimlongo
East London boxing trainer Mzamo ‘Chief’ Njekanye endured some painful moments in the past few days.
Njekanye’s pain came as a result of his initial failure to secure a visa to accompany his boxer Azinga ‘Golden Boy’ Fuzile to the United States.
Fuzile clashes with Briton Martin Ward in an International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-lightweight eliminator at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas this coming Saturday.
Things have changed now as Njekanye obtained his visa on Tuesday and is set to fly to the US probably on Wednesday.
“It was the most frustrating and painful moment for me. The thought of not being in the boy’s corner was killing me. I had to hide my pain and frustration from the boy because I didn’t want him to see how I was hurting. I spent sleepless nights thinking about how the boy would do without me in the corner after the work we have put on,” Njekanye said on Tuesday.
Njekanye has been working very hard with Fuzile since the former South African featherweight champion rejoined him after he bolted out of Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan’s Hot Box Gym earlier this year.
“This is my fight. This is the fight where we will show how far I have worked with the boy. This is a big fight for me and the boy,” Njekanye said.
A boxer who emerges victorious from the Fuzile-Ward shootout will face the winner between Tajikistan boxer Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov and Kenichi Ogawa from Japan, who are due to fight in July.
