Lunga ‘Pressure Cooker’ Sitemela together with his trainer Emil Brice and manager Allan Dillon are ready to hit the skies and leave for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the Eastern Cape-born boxer will face Moussa Gholam from Morocco.
Sitemela, who is the reigning World Boxing Federation (WBF) lightweight champion, together with Brice and Dillon leave South Africa on Monday next week ahead his fight against Gholam. This 10 international bout is going to be held at Yas Links, Abu Dhabi, on Saturday, 13 January.
“We have done very well at training preparing for this fight and we believe that Lunga is ready. I have watched our opponent and I believe we stand a very good chance of beating him,” Brice said.
Both Dordrecht-born Sitemela and Gholam have lost once in their respective boxing careers. They both suffered their first and only losses while fighting in Russia.
Sitemela was outpointed by Tajik Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov in March 2021 while Gholam lost by a split decision to Azerbaijan-born Russian boxer Elnur Samedov in December 2022.
“We did our normal preparations with Lunga. Everything came out very well. Lunga has been sparring every second day for the past two weeks,” Brice remarked.
Notably, Sitemela won the South African and WBF junior-lightweight titles after his opponents dislocated left shoulders. He won the SA title after former champion Sibusiso Zingange dislocated his left shoulder in May 2022.
Something similar happened when Sitemela won the WBF title as he defeated Botswana boxer Steve Bagwasi after he dislocated his left shoulder during their fight in Gaborone in June last year.
The 32-year-old Sitemela has registered stoppages in his last three fights. He stopped Zingange, Khanyile Bulana and Bagwasi.
Meanwhile, Sitemela has a professional record of 16 wins (10 knockouts) and a single loss while the 28-year-old Gholam, who is based in Cataluna, Spain, has 20 victories with 12 stoppages and one defeat.
