Mzamo ‘Chief’ Njekanye’s excitement is understandable as Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom has finally confirmed the date and venue of his boxer Azinga ‘Golden Boy’ Fuzile’s fight against Kenichi Ogawa from Japan.
Fuzile and Ogawa face each other in a vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-lightweight title fight at the Hulu Theatre, Madison Square Garden, in New York City, United States, on Saturday, 27 November (Sunday, 28 November South African time).
The 25-year-old Fuzile earned the right to have a crack at the world title after he stopped Briton Martin Ward in the seventh round in Las Vegas in May.
‘‘We are very happy that everything has been finalised. We are happy that an announcement of the date and venue has also been made,” Njekanye said.
Initially, Ogawa was scheduled to face Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov from Tajikistan for the same title in the United Arab Emirates in August. But the fight got postponed after the Tajik picked up an injury.
With Rakhimov taking longer to recover, the IBF ordered the fight between Fuzile and Ogawa. This fight is on the undercard of the clash between Teofimo Lopez from the United States and Australian George Kambosos Junior.
Lopez will be making the first defence of his World Boxing Association (WBA) ‘Super’, IBF, World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and The Ring lightweight crowns.
The 24-year-old American has won all his 16 bouts with 12 of those being stoppages while Kamboo Jr has stopped 10 of his victims.
‘‘This is a very big opportunity in a very big stage. This is bigger than the stage where we were in during the fight against Martin Ward. People around the world are looking forward to Lopez’s fight against Kambosos. They are also going to see Azinga fighting as well,’’ Njekanye said.
