Nhlanhla ‘Mount Kilimanjaro’ Tyirha might not have been with his new trainer for long, but Vusi Mtolo is quite impressed with the former South African junior-flyweight champion’s work rate even though he believes that there’s still a lot of work to be done.
The Mdantsane-born Tyirha teamed up with Mtolo as his trainer last month as he wanted to get back to his earlier promise as a boxer.
“I’m impressed with what I have seen so far. He’s respectful, something which is very important in boxing. He’s got skills, also something very important,” Mtolo remarked.
“I’m very fortunate to work with someone like Tyirha even though I still believe he’s too soft just like other Eastern Cape boxers. He needs to toughen up and must also know how to rough up his opponents. He must know how to box, fight and maybe cheat his opponent as well.”
Mtolo felt like doing something when he watched Tyirha on television in his last fight, which was an eighth round stoppage loss to Malawian boxer George Kandulo at the East London International Convention Centre (ICC) in July .
This is one loss, which came at a huge price for Tyirha as it resulted in him losing his ratings in the world’s top four boxing bodies.
“He was fighting for all of us during that fight. It’s a pity that he lost the fight as he only needed to be smart against Kandulo because he was ahead on points. I felt like being there at ringside at the time so that I could say something to him when he was fighting,” Mtolo said.
