Once rated in the top 15 in four of the world’s major boxing bodies, Nhlanhla ‘Mount Kilimanjaro’ Tyirha will fight for the vacant International Boxing Organisation (IBO) minimumweight title late next month.
The former South African junior-flyweight champion is set to collide with top-rated Filipino boxer Joey Canoy at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, on Saturday, 29 November.
Tyhirha is rated 12th by the IBO while Canoy is three places above his Mdantsane-born opponent. This is going to be Canoy’s third attempt to win the title after failing on two occasions.
Canoy has gone nine fights – eight wins and a draw – since losing to Tyirha at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in East London in May 2021.
This fight is going to form part of Golden Gloves’ tournament where Ricardo Malajika will defend his IBO junior-bantamweight title for the fourth time when he meets Vince Paras. Malajika’s clash with Paras will also serve as an International Boxing Federation (IBF) mandatory position.
Meanwhile, Tyirha was highly rated until he was stunned by Malawian journeyman George Kandulo at the ICC in July 2023.
Tyirha was rated sixth by the WBC, 12th in the WBA ratings, fifth by the IBF and was seventh in the WBO ratings before he was stopped in the sixth round by Kandulo.
