It’s very easy to understand why Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan is happy after he led his charge Sivenathi ‘Special One’ Nontshinga to International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-flyweight glory following a 10th round stoppage win over Mexican boxer Adrian Curiel Dominguez at the Guelaguetza Auditorium in Oaxaca on Saturday morning (South African time).
It was sweet victory for Nontshinga as he defeated his conqueror Dominguez, who dethroned him in Monaco in November last year. Nontshinga first won the IBF title in Mexico against Mexican boxer Hector Flores in September 2022.
“I have lost my voice. I’m over the moon. My whole strategy was to engage, stay close to the pockets in the first half of the fight. Curiel was not expecting us to engage in the pockets early on,” Nathan said.
“The body shots from Sive started hurting him. Sive’s defence was tight. I said it before that our strategy was going to be totally different. It was just brilliant. It was one of my defining moments as a coach in front of 10 000 fans in an open stadium in the guy’s backyard. Winning by a stoppage, so convincingly, was an incredible feeling.”
The 25-year-old Nontshinga has now improved his record to 13 victories with 10 knockouts and one defeat while Dominguez dropped to 24 wins (five stoppages), five losses and a draw.
Meanwhile, the stoppage really helped the Eastern Cape boxer as Nontshinga was behind on points on two judges’ score cards.
Mexican judge Alejandro Lopez Cid had his compatriot Dominguez winning by 87-83 with Frenchman Vincent Dupas’ score card reading 86-84 for Dominguez and South African ring official Deon Dwarte had 85-85 on his score card by the time American referee Mark Calo-oy stopped the proceedings.
Interestingly, Mexican judge Fabrizio Lopez Cid, who is Alejandro Lopez Cid’s brother, had Flores winning by 115-112 against Nontshinga in September 2022. On the other hand, Dwarte had Nontshinga winning by 114-113 while the score card of Pasquale Procopio from Canada read 116-111.
