Boxing trainer Damien Durandt is not going to have so much rest this festive season as he will lead his boxer Jackson ‘M3’ Chauke to battle against Phumelela ‘Truth’ Cafu on Friday.
The 37-year-old Chauke from Tembisa in Ekurhuleni and Duncan Village’s Cafu go toe-to-toe in a rematch at the Orient Theatre in East London. The two boxers drew when Cafu challenged Chauke for his South African flyweight title in March this year.
“I’m here in East London to defend our dignity. Our opponent has been saying a lot about this fight. He couldn’t do it in the first fight. I don’t know what he thinks he will do in the next fight. It’s not like Jackson was going in the first fight,” Durandt said after landing in East London on Wednesday morning.
Soon after Chauke’s fight, Durandt will be preparing his world champion boxer Ilunga ‘Junior’ Makabu ahead of his title defence next month. Makabu from the Democratic Republic of Congo is set to make the third defence of his World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiserweight title against number one contender Noel Gevor Mikaelyan next month.
Makabu’s fight against the Armenian-German boxer is going to be held at the Casino Miami Jai Alai, Miami, in the United States on Saturday, 21 January.
The 35-year-old Congolese has so far successfully defended his crown against South African Thabiso Mchunu in January this year and Kansas City-based Nigerian boxer Olanrewaju Durodola in December 2020.
Meanwhile, the 32-year-old Mikaelyan was born in Yerevan, Armenia, and is now based in Hamburg, Germany. Mikaelyan defeated France-based Congolese boxer Youri Kayembre Kalenga in a vacant WBC Silver cruiserweight title contest in February this year.
