By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Mthatha-born boxer Sikho ‘Sequence’ Nqothole plans to cement his place in the ratings of some of the top four world bodies as he faces Jonas Matheus.
Nqothole, who is trained by former South African bantamweight champion Phumzile Matyhila, meets the Namibian in an international bout at the Box Camp Booysen, Johannesburg, on Saturday, 9 December.
Matheus will be fighting in South Africa for the second time in a space of 10 weeks. He lost on points to former SA junior-bantamweight champion Yanga Sigqibo in Midrand in September.
“We are not afraid of Jonas and he’s not a threat to me. I was there in Midrand when he fought against Yanga. But I left the fight venue when they were in round four because there was nothing to watch as their bout was not interesting,” Nqothole remarked.
Currently, Nqothole is rated 10th by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) has placed him in 13th spot in its ratings.
“My bout against Matheus is gonna be a keep-busy fight. The plan is to make sure that I win and go up the ratings. I want to be up there in the ratings next year,” Nqothole said.
The 37-year-old Matheus, a former Namibian featherweight champion, lost his last two fights against South African boxers. Apart from losing to Sigqibo recently, Matheus also lost to erstwhile International Boxing Organisation (IBO) minimumweight, junior-flyweight and junior-bantamweight titlist Gideon Buthelezi in May last year.
