By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Khanyisa Jekwa has insisted that Mdantsane boxer Asanda Gingqi does not need to be wrapped in a cotton wool.
Jekwa, who is Gingqi’s manager, said that the South African featherweight champion deserves to fight against the best, especially away from home.
He was responding to crticism of their decision to accept a fight against Russian Olympic gold medallist Albert Batyrgaziev in Russia on Friday, 24 December.
“We took the fight because it’s gonna keep Gingqi active. We also want to gauge Gingqi’s level against overseas boxers away from home,” Jekwa said.
“There’s a worrying trend here at home where we tend to pick soft opponents for our boxers. That does not help our boxers as they struggle when it matters the most. Gingqi must fight against the best boxers. We want to see how he is going to cope when he fights outside the country.”
Both Gingqi and Batyrgaziev are unbeaten with the South African champion having won all his seven fights with five of them being stoppages while Batyrgaziev has stopped his four opponents.
Gingqi beat Capetonian Abdul-Aziz Kunert by a split decision in September and the Russian stopped Albanian-Italian Suat Laze to win the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) European featherweight title last month.
Batyrgaziev made history by becoming the first professional boxer to win an Olympic gold medal in August. The former kickboxer beat American Duke Ragan at the Tokyo Olympics in Japan.
