Having lost his last fight to Lindelani Sibisi, former South African featherweight champion Zolisa Nathi’s return to action has been delayed after he decided against facing top Nigerian boxer Taiwo Agbaje.
Batyi was invited to Nigeria for a clash against Agbaje, a 33-year-old southpaw from Lagos, who has won all his 18 fights, with 13 of those victories coming from knockouts. Nxarhuni-born Batyi turned down the offer to face the Nigerian as he wants to build himself up the South African ratings.
“There was an offer to a fight against a Nigerian boxer. It was a title fight. It was short notice,” Batyi’s manager Siyabulela ‘Baba’ Makala said.
After losing his SA featherweight title to Sibisi via a 10 round stoppage, Batyi dropped to fourth place in the Boxing South Africa (BSA) ratings and is now rated in fifth position. Batyi is yet to see action since that loss to Sibisi at the Orient Theatre in East London in May.
“I had thought that we would get a standard fight since Batyi was stopped in his last fight. Our aim is to work our way up to title contention and ultimately challenge for the SA title. We believe that we can beat Sibisi. We can even stop him,” Makala said. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
