Boxing South Africa (BSA) has distance itself from former SA champion Nkululeko ‘The Bulldog’ Mhlongo’s fight, which was held in Albania last Saturday.
The 42-year-old Mhlongo from Eshowe in KwaZulu-Natal was pummelled into submission by Albanian greenhorn Senad Drini in the fourth round in Shkoder. Mhlongo travelled to Albania after he received a fight clearance from the Federation of Congolese Boxing in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
“As far as we know, Mhlongo is retired. So, it’s difficult for us to comment on his fight as he’s not a Boxing South Africa licensee anymore,” BSA accounting authority Mandla Ntlanganiso said.
The 23-year-old Drini registered his fifth win and fourth stoppage when he stopped the former SA junior-middleweight and middleweight titlist.
That was the third straight stoppage loss for Mhlongo, who was stopped by Kazakh boxer Saddrin Alhmedov in Kazakhstan in December 2022 and he amlso lost by an 11th round knockout to John Bopape in Bloemfontein in April of the same year.
Efforts to get hold of Mhlongo proved futile as his cellphone was consistently on voicemail.
