An expired passport has resulted in a rare opportunity slipping through the fingers of former South African junior-featherweight champion Ayabonga ‘Jay Jay’ Sonjica.
Sonjica received an invite to travel to the United Kingdom where he was going to spend almost a month as Nick Ball’s sparring partner. He was going to help the Liverpudlian in his preparations for the mandatory World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight title defence against top American boxer Brandon Figueroa at the M and S Bank Arena in Liverpool, UK, on Saturday, 7 February next year.
A message sent to Sonjica’s trainer Sean Smith by Mervyn Turner, a promoter and manager from the United Kingdom, said: “I was looking at your boxer Ayabonga Sonjica and wanted to know if he would be interested in joining a sparring camp for Nick Ball in preparation for his world title fight.”
According to Turner, the sparring sessions, three times a week, were due to start on Monday, 29 December, until Friday, 23 January 2026.
“Unfortunately, his passport has expired and to get a UK visa before the end of the year would be challenging. But it’s nice to know that they are aware of Sonjica in the division,” Smith said.
Ball is the same boxer who defeated former International Boxing Organisation (IBO) junior-featherweight champion Ludumo Lamati in a World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver title fight in May 2023. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
