It has emerged that Luvuyo Mputi fought through the pain from the fourth round until he was stopped by Chumani Tunzi two rounds later at the Orient Theatre in East London on Sunday.
This Eastern Cape junior-welterweight title fight was by far the best bout of the Kay B Promotions tournament as both Mputi and Tunzi kept hammering each other with heavy blows, much to the delight of the boxing followers, who converged at the venue.
Fight referee Simphiwe Tom stopped the bout in two minutes and eight seconds in the sixth round handing Tunzi from Mdantsane the win.
“After the fight Simphiwe Vetyeka told us that Mputi had told him at the end of round three that he was feeling some pain in his right hand. And afterwards, Mputi struggled to use his right hand properly,” Mputi’s manager Thembelani ‘Shakes’ Hlombe said on Monday.
“I took him for an X-ray at Cecilia Makiwane on Monday morning and it has now been confirmed that he broke his knuckle. People must not get me wrong, I’m not saying he was not gonna lose the fight if he hadn’t been injured.”
Meanwhile, this was Mputi’s successive loss having lost to Sanele Msimang in a World Boxing Federation (WBF) International junior-welterweight title contest at the Portuguese Hall in Durban in August 2022.
On the other hand, Tunzi registered his first victory since losing by a second round stoppage to Marcus Lebogo in July 2022.
