Justice has been done as world champion Sivenathi ‘Special One’ Nontshinga ultimately won the Sportsman of the Year and Sport Star of the Year gongs at the Eastern Cape Sport and Recreation Achievers awards ceremony at the Boardwalk Hotel and Casino in Gqeberha on Friday afternoon.
Truth be told, Nontshinga should have won these awards last year, but he got sidelined even though he had walked away with the Male Boxer of the Year gong at the South African Boxing Awards in Durban earlier.
Prior to that, Nontshinga’s bout against Mexican boxer Hector Flores Calixto in Hermosillo, Mexico, in September 2022 won the IBF Fight of the Year award.
Winning the award on Friday is a major fillip for Nontshinga as he defends his IBF junior-flyweight title against Japanese boxer Masamichi Yabuki at the Aichi Sky Expo Convention Centre in Tokoname, Nagoya, in Japan on Saturday.
The East Londoner makes the first defence of the title he reclaimed via a 10th round stoppage of Mexican boxer Adrian Curiel Dominguez in February this year.
And in great shape, the 25-year-old Nontshinga essily tipped the scales at 48.8 kilograms while Yabuki weighed 48.7kg during an official weigh-in on Friday.
