Taking two fights so close to each other in two different continents might have played a part in Lerato ‘Lights Out’ Dlamini’s loss on Saturday.
Dlamini lost in his bid to win a world title after he was defeated on points by James ‘Jazza’ Dickens in Liverpool on Saturday evening. Dickens captured the vacant International Boxing Organisation (IBO) featherweight title with a unanimous decision.
Two of the judges – Howard Foster and Mikael Hook – scored the fight 115-113 and the third judge Per Kjerulf Hansen’s score card read 116-112.
Welkom-born Dlamini went to the Dickens fight just 15 days after he stopped Jelbirt Gomera from the Philippines in Bloemfontein.
“I thought it was a close fight. If the fight happened in South Africa we would have nicked it. The problem is that we were on the road, even if we won they were not gonna give it to us. It’s always difficult in someone else’s backyard,” Dlamini’s trainer Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan remarked.
The award-winning boxing trainer added that Dlamini, who suffered his second career loss and the first defeat in just over seven years, deserves to rest now.
“Lerato needs to rest. The turnaround between two fights was insane. But I’m very proud of his performance. It was a very close competitive fight,” Nathan said.
