An attempt by an Eastern Cape boxer to capture the South African junior-flyweight title will be made when Athenkosi Thongwana challenges reigning SA champion Mpumelelo Tshabalala.
Thongwana from Duncan Village will try to dethrone Tshabalala when they face off at the Orient Theatre in East London on Sunday, 18 December.
With his trainer Thembani ‘Best’ Gopheni set to leave for Japan together with Yanga ‘Showtime’ Sigqibo this coming Saturday, Thongwana is being trained by former SA flyweight champion Ncedo Cecane.
The 28-year-old Sigqibo from Duncan Village is going to Japan to fight against former World Boxing Organisation (WBO) minimumweight, junior-flyweight and flyweight champion Kosei Tanaka on Sunday, 11 December.
“I have asked Ncedo Cecane to train Thongwana in my absence. I will come back from Japan and then work on his corner when he fights against Tshabalala,” Gopheni said.
Tshabalala won the SA title when he stopped former national minimumweight champion Xolisa Magusha in the fifth round at the East London International Convention Centre (ICC) in March this year. The lad from Katlehong in Ekurhuleni has made one successful defence of the SA title, a unanimous decision win over Sikho Moshani in July.
