Next month’s International Boxing Federation (IBF) Continental Africa bantamweight title fight, which is set to pit two Eastern boxers against each other is hanging in the balance.
A contractual dispute between Johannesburg-based trainer-cum-manager Sean Smith and Tiisetso Matikinca is threatening to derail the boxer’s dream of fighting against Lusizo Manzana.
According to the IBF website, Matikinca has been approved to fight against Lusizo Manzana in Johannesburg on Saturday, 1 August. However, there’s still uncertainty about the bout as Smith and Matikinca are yet to resolve their dispute, which came after the boxer recently joined trainer under Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan at Hot Box Gym.
And responding to a question on whether Matikinca’s fight against Manzana would go ahead or not, Smith said: “There’s a lot that still needs to be done. And nothing can go through until everything has been sorted out.”
Contacted for comment, Matikinca, who has a professional record of 10 wins with eight knockouts, referred Ink Sport to Nathan, who said: “There’s a dispute and I know that they are trying to resolve it.” – Monwabisi Jimlongo
