The setback suffered by reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF)
flyweight champion Moruti ‘Babyface’ Mthalane after his title defence against Filipino boxer Jayson Mama was cancelled has not dampened the spirits of Team Mthalane.
Instead, Mthalane and his trainer Colin Mthalane are going to map a way forward when they return to training in the new year.
The former International Boxing Organisation (IBO) flyweight champion’s fight against the Filipino was going to headline a Tono Boxing Promotions tournament at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli
International Convention Centre in Durban last Sunday.
Boxing South Africa (BSA) released a statement a few days before the tournament announcing that it had been cancelled following a failure by Nkwanda Mbatha, Tono Boxing Promotions boss, to meet basic
requirements to enable BSA to sanction and give credibility to the event.
‘‘Let me put it on record that I will never have anything to do with Tono Promotions and Nokwanda Mbatha again. I sent her a message that she must never contact me again. I hope Boxing South Africa will take
certain action against her,’’ Nathan said.
‘‘Moving forward I have told the IBF that I will never engage with the promoter again irrespective of what she told the IBF that that was out of her control. I just thought there wasn’t clear transparency between
the promoter and the fighter. So having said that now we will take a break and reassess.’’
The award-winning trainer, who is based in Johannesburg, has insisted that Mthalane will honour his obligation to fight against Mama.
‘‘Obviously, Jayson Mama is still the mandatory challenger and we will
figure out what the next step is. This isn’t the end of the world for Moruti Mthalane. Naturally, I’m disappointed that this fight never took place. But that’s boxing, unfortunately these things happen.’’
Lindelani-born Mthalane has not fought since he defeated Japanese boxer Akira Yaegashi in Yokohama, Japan, on 23 December 2019.
