Nkosinathi ‘Mabhere’ Joyi has decided against speaking out following his third round stoppage loss to Tanzanian boxer Abeid Zugo whose real name is Abeid Kessy Kasongo last weekend.
Instead, the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) minimumweight champion referred all questions to Simphiwe ‘V12’ Vetyeka, who was in his corner during the Zugo fight.
“We were given the fight at short notice. We only trained for something like two weeks. The guy always wants to improve his record by using us. We lost in the third round,” Vetyeka said.
Interestingly, Zugo defeated Vetyeka, a former World Boxing Association (WBA) ‘Super’ and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) featherweight champion, in December last year.
Before going to fight in Tanzania, Joyi hadn’t fought since he was stopped in the fourth round by former IBO minimumweight champion Ayanda Ndulani in May 2021.
Once regarded by both BoxRec and The Ring Magazine as the number one boxer in the minimumweight division, the 41-year-old Joyi held the IBO minimumweight title twice. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
