Winning the South African title has always been what Simangele Hadebe dreamt of since she laced boxing gloves for the first time many years ago.
And that dream came true when she outpointed Thema Zuma to win the vacant South African female flyweight title in a tournament held at the Music World in Parkview, Pretoria, on Saturday evening.
“I’m very excited. My main aim is not to remain a South African champion for a long time. I want to go further in my career. This is just the beginning,” Hadebe said.
Saturday’s fight was more of a repeat of the two lasses’ clash, where Hadebe won on points against Zuma at the Booysens Boxing Gym in Johannesburg last month.
Hadebe has now won all her fights this year after scoring wins over Melissa Miller in Secunda in March and twice against Zuma.
“She is a very tough opponent and she takes punches. It’s not easy to knock her out. Thankfully, I had prepared myself to go the full 10 rounds. I know there are people who felt I should have stopped her. They don’t understand that it’s not easy when you are inside the ring,” she remarked.
Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Hadebe is set to fight against Revai Madondo from Zimbabwe in Botswana next month.
“We have already signed an eight-round contract. But it looks like the bout might be changed to an ABU title fight. I’d be very happy should that happen,” Hadebe concluded.
