After petitioning Boxing South Africa (BSA) for a review of his boxer Okuhle Mthi’s fight against Nozwelethu Mathontsi, Andile ‘Black Buffalo’ Mshumpela is happy and ready to lodge a challenge for the South African female junior-flyweight title.
Mshumpela applied for a fight review after Mthi lost to Mathontsi via a majority decision in a six rounds bout at Hope Schools in Summerpride, KuGompo City, last month.
“I am very happy with the results of the review of the fight. We applied for the review because we knew that Okuhle didn’t lose the fight. We can now go on and challenge for the South African title now that independent judges from different provinces scored the fight as a draw,” Mshumpela said.
BSA appointed three judges from different provinces to review the fight. A judge from Limpopo gave Mthi the nod while his counterpart from the Northern Cape had Mathontsi winning the bout and another official from the Free State had the fight as a draw.
It was the second time that Mthi and Mathontsi fought. Mthatha-born Mthi won the first fight held at KuGompo City’s Orient Theatre in December 2024.
Meanwhile, Mathontsi, who won the SA female junior-flyweight title in June 2014, has not defended her crown since she defeated Owethu Rula during her fourth defence in December 2023. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
