One of the most experienced boxers in South African boxing Jackson ‘M3’ Chauke respects whoever gets a chance to square up against him inside the ring.
And as Chauke is preparing to defend his SA flyweight title in East London next month, he has made it clear that he holds Phumelela ‘Truth’ Cafu in high regard. Chauke is pencilled to defend his title against Cafu at the East London International Convention Centre (ICC) on Sunday, 27 March.
Chauke outpointed Luyanda Ntwanambe in his last fight held in Gqeberha in April while Cafu, who is rated seventh, has not fought since his stoppage win over Tanzanian Hamza Mchanjo at the Portuguese Hall in Johannesburg in September 2019.
“Cafu has two hands just like me. I respect him as a fellow professional and opponent. It’s not gonna be an easy fight. I’m not taking anything lightly. But at the end of the fight we know whose hand is gonna be raised, M3’s,” Chauke said.
Chauke has admitted that Cafu is more like a close book to him as he knows very little about the Duncan Village boxer. He has said that he only watched Cafu’s fights against Dalisizwe ‘Matlala’ Komani in 2018 and Mchanjo.
Meanwhile, this clash against Cafu was not the Tembisa-based Chauke’s first option. He was supposed to go fight against Russian Mekhdi Abdurashedov in a rematch in Russia, but that clash was shelved because of the war between the Russians and the Ukrainians.
Chauke, who turns 37 in May, beat the 23-year-old Abdurashedov in a World Boxing Council (WBC) International flyweight title fight in September 2019.
“I was preparing to fight in a rematch against Abdurashedov in Russia, but the current situation there forced me to go for my second option. I’m prepared to fight Cafu and I have an idea of what to expect from him after watching him fighting against Matlala and the other guy from Tanzania here in Jozi,” Chauke remarked.
