By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Following the disappointment he suffered when his opponent Thembani Okolo ‘disappeared’ in January, Bangile Nyangani finally gets a chance to fight yet again as the South African minimumweight champion clashes with Loyiso Ngantweni.
Nyangani from Mthatha is set to make his defence of the SA title against Ngantweni, who is rated second, at the EFC Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday next week.
And Nyangani’s trainer Alan Toweel is not looking down on Ngantweni whom he has described as a credible opponent.
“He’s fighting against Loyiso Ngantweni. The main aim here is for Bangile to keep winning. As he wins, he will go up the ratings in world bodies,” Toweel said.
“I don’t even want to look at our opponent’s record because he’s got the experience and can give us trouble. We are not taking this fight lightly. It’s gonna be a tough fight.”
This is going to be Nyangani’s first defence of the title he won when he dethroned Mdantsane boxer Siyakholwa Kuse in East London last July.
“The SA title fight brings the best out of fighters all the time. We must win every single fight in order for us to climb up the ratings,” Toweel said.
Nyangani is rated in the top 10 in the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Organisation (WBO). Nyangani is ninth in both the WBA and the IBF while he’s seventh in the WBO.
Meanwhile, Toweel has added that Nyangani has overcame the disappointment he suffered during Okolo’s no show in January. Okolo failed to travel to Johannesburg for his fight against Nyangani.
“He’s a professional. At first, he was very upset. It was heartbreaking after training very hard. But he has overcome that now,” the Johannesburg-based boxing trainer said.
“He is training extra hard now. He’s looking good at the gym and at sparring. Psychologically, he is back on track. He is the best minimumweight in the country.”
