The umpteenth postponement of the vacant South African junior-welterweight title fight has worked in Aphiwe ‘Swagger’ Boyiya’s favour, so says his opponent Sibusiso Zingange.
Just as it was thought that the fight between the two boxers was finally going to take place in Gqeberha this coming Saturday, it got postponed. Zingange’s “jinxed” fight against Boyiya has unfortunately been postponed a number times since July and they now have to wait until early next year.
“Boyiya, you were lucky again,” the 32-year-old Zingange, who is a former SA junior-lightweight champion, remarked.
This SA junior-welterweight title became vacant after former champion Ntethelelo Nkosi chose to fight in the WBC Grand Prix in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mtubatuba-born Nkosi lost to unbeaten Colombian boxer Carlos Alfonso Utria Lopez in the semi-finals of the tournament.
“I hope the fight will take place in February next year. And if it doesn’t take place in February, then each one of us must take a different direction,” Zingange said.
These two boxers have met twice before with Amalinda-based Boyiya winning both fights in September 2015 and April 2017. However, their April 2017 fight was declared a no contest after Boyiya, a former SA featherweight and junior-lightweight champion, was found to have used a banned substance.
Meanwhile, Zingange last fought when he outpointed Talent Baloyi in March while Boyiya has not fought since his win over Lindokuhle Dlamini in November 2024.
