East London boxing trainer Thembani ‘Best’ Gopheni is concerned about Athenkosi Thongwana after the Duncan Village boxer’s fight against Mpumelelo Tshabalala got postponed.
Thongwana was set to challenge South African junior-flyweight champion Tshabalala at the Orient Theatre in East London next Sunday. However, the fight has since been postponed to next year.
“The postponement of the fight is bad because we don’t know what kind of a Thongwana we will have when we start preparing again. I don’t know his emotional state now,” Gopheni remarked.
Gopheni and Thongwana began preparing for this fight after he returned from Mexico where his son Sivenathi ‘Special One’ Nontshinga captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight title following his win over Mexican boxer Hector Flores early in September.
“We started preparing for the fight soon after I came back from Mexico in September. We, however, understand that the postponement of the fight is beyond our control,” Gopheni said.
Gopheni is going to return to South Africa from Japan on Tuesday after he was in Yanga Sigqibo’s corner when he suffered a points loss to former World Boxing Organisation (WBO) minimumweight, junior-flyweight and flyweight champion Kosei Tanaka on Sunday.
Meanwhile, there will be no rest for Gopheni as he is going to return to Johannesburg on Thursday where his two boxers Awonke Tini and Thinumzi Gqola are scheduled to fight against Andile Majozi and Mthobeli Quvile respectively on Friday.
