Akani Phuzi will have his second fight of the year after he secured a date with highly-rated Canadian boxer Ryan ‘The Bruiser’ Rozicki in Canada in October.
The 31-year-old Phuzi faces Rozicki in a World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas cruiserweight title fight on Saturday, 25 October (Sunday, 26 October, South African time).
Phuzi is fresh from a win over Youssouf Kasongo Mwanza from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Pretoria over two months ago while the bearded Rozicki drew with Argentine Yamil Alberto Peralta in an interim WBC cruiserweight title contest last December.
“I’m very happy to get this fight. I got to know about this fight a few weeks ago. This is a good opportunity for me to come up against someone who’s highly rated and I believe that this is a winnable fight,” Phuzi remarked.
Malamulele-born Phuzi, who is trained by Damien Durandt in Johannesburg, has won 14 times with six stoppages and three losses.
Rozicki, a former WBC International and North American Boxing Association cruiserweight champion, is a formidable opponent who has 20 wins with 19 knockouts, a loss and one draw. The Canadian is rated number two by the WBC and is 13th in the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) ratings. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
