Award-winning boxing trainer Khangelani Jack has admitted that training a talented boxer like South African junior-flyweight champion Siseko Teyisi has brought him added pressure.
Jack started training Teyisi earlier this month after the Mdantsane-born champion bolted out of Xaba Boxing Academy (XBA). Teyisi left XBA after he cut ties with Xaba Promotions following a contractual dispute.
Speaking during an interview on Umhlobo Wenenefm‘s sport show on Thursday evening, Jack said: “I never expected to be tasked with training Teyisi even though there were people who had mentioned me as his potential trainer.
“You put yourself into a difficult position when you get to train a South African champion and an international campaigner like Teyisi. You have to maintain the same level or standard. I prefer a boxer whom I had worked with from the amateurs or just an unknown boxer. Having a well-known boxer puts you under pressure because people look at what you can offer as a trainer. I’m happy to work with him. We have to work very hard.”
Jack, the 2023 Trainer of the Year award winner, added: “There’s not much that I’m going to change. I think Teyisi has mistakes like all other boxers. There’s not a single boxer who’s perfect. We need to fix his mistakes so that his career can move forward.”
Talking about choosing Jack as a trainer, Bongani Bozo, who manages Teyisi, said: “We looked at all the trainers around and Jack was the obvious choice because he’s familiar with Siseko. Almost all the young boxers grew under him as he travelled a lot with them.”
Teyisi, the current International Boxing Federation (IBF) Intercontinental junior-flyweight titlist, has won all his nine fights with seven of those wins coming from knockouts. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
