There will be no rest for Ayabonga ‘Jay Jay’ Sonjica, who is fresh from a points victory over Thato Bonokoane on Saturday evening, as he has another fight lined up for him.
Sonjica fought for the first time in almost three years as he outpointed former World Boxing Federation (WBF) junior-featherweight champion Bonokoane at The Galleria Venue, Sandton, Johannesburg, with all three judges giving him the nod at the end of the six rounds bout.
Before lacing his gloves against Bonokoane, Sonjica, an erstwhile South African junior-featherweight titlist, had his last fight when he was stopped in the sixth round by Bongani ‘Wonderboy’ Mahlangu at the Orient Theatre in East London in July 2022.
“It was a good come back fight, six solid rounds against Thato, a good boxer. It was great that Jay Jay fought again after some people didn’t want to help him get a fight,” Sonjica’s trainer Sean Smith said.
With the Bonokoane fight done and dusted, the 33-year-old Sonjica from Duncan Village in East London, is now going to fight against Sanele Maduna at the SunBet Arena in Menlyn, Pretoria, on Workers’ Day.
“He’s coming back on the first of May. And this is good for Jay Jay,” Johannesburg-based Smith revealed.
After losing to Mahlangu, Sonjica hung on to his rating for more than a year until he was removed from the ratings due to inactivity. And according to Smith, the mission now is to get Sonjica back into the ratings.
Meanwhile, Sonjica’s fight will be one of the undercards during Kevin Lerena’s World Boxing Council (WBC) bridgerweight title defence against challenger Serhiy Radchenko from Ukraine. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
