Sandile Mahlangu has likened the outcome of Saturday’s fight between his elder brother Bongani ‘Wonderboy’ Mahlangu and Siyabulela ‘Showtime’ Hem to a highway robbery.
Sandile said this after all three judges – Cyprial Ndaba (113-115), Tony Nyangiwe (112-116) and Duduzile Dlamini (113-116) gave the 21-year-old Hem the nod even though it had looked like Mahlangu did enough to retain his title.
“We were robbed. It’s so painful to be robbed like this. It was clear that they wanted our opponent to win. There’s no way that we didn’t win a single round,” Sandile, who trains Mahlangu, remarked.
Sandile added: “The outcome of the fight was predetermined. We are going to lodge an appeal and ask for neutral judges to score the fight.”
Meanwhile, Mahlangu from Boipatong in the Vaal won the SA title after he stopped then champion Ayabonga Sonjica at the Orient Theatre in East London in July 2022.
And the 45-year-old Mahlangu was attempting to make a third successful defence of the SA title. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
