By Monwabisi Jimlongo
East London boxing trainer Khangelani Jack has an idea of what to expect from Lito ‘Naruto’ Dante after watching the Filipino boxer in action here in South Africa on two occasions.
Dante is scheduled to fight against Jack’s boxer Nhlanhla ‘Mount Kilimanjaro’ Tyirha in a vacant World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Intercontinenal junior-flyweight title contest at the East London International Convention Centre (ICC) on Friday next week.
Tyirha, a former South African junior-flyweight champion, was initially scheduled to face Miel Fajardo from the Philippines, but that was changed after it was feared that the Filipino would be too strong for him.
“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is. The change of opponent is neither here nor there. Truly speaking, we didn’t expect the opponent to be changed,” Jack, who is vying for the Trainer of the Year award at the South African Boxing Awards later this month, said.
“Anyway, the change of the opponent is not a problem to us. We are ready for the fight. The boxer has been in camp since March as the tournament was initially scheduled for April. I watched Dante when he fought against Konkco and Siyo and I know what to expect from him.”
Dante, a World Boxing Federation (WBF) International minimumweight champion, is yet to win on South African soil after losing to former International Boxing Organisation (IBO) minimumweight titlist Simphiwe Konkco at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park in June 2017. Before that, the 33-year-old Dante from Bohol in the Philippines was outpointed by Siyabonga Siyo at the Orient Theatre in East London in August 2014.
The experienced Dante has registered 20 wins (12 stoppages), 11 losses and four draws compared to Tyirha, who has eight victories (two knockouts) and a defeat.
