Boxing fans must forget about a fight between Bongani ‘King Killer’ Fule and former South African featherweight champion Zolisa ‘Blazer’ Batyi as it is not going to happen any time soon.
This is what Fule’s manager Andile Mshumpela from Mshu One Management said after the Makhanda-born boxer lost to current SA featherweight titlist Lindelani Sibisi at the Jan Smuts Stadium in KuGompo City on Saturday evening.
“There will be no fight against Batyi. We will not fight Batyi just to entertain fans. We will only fight against Batyi if there’s a title at stake,” Mshumpela remarked.
Mshumpela added that he’s satisfied with how Fule fared against Sibisi even though the Dundee-born champion won by a big margin. Sibisi won by 118-110 on two scorecards and the third scorecard read 117-111.
“I’m happy with how Fule fought even though he didn’t perform the way he used to. Without sounding like I’m coming up with excuses, Fule had a bout of flu last week and I took him to a doctor, who gave him some injection. We wanted to fight thus we went ahead with the bout,” Mshumpela remarked.
“Fule fought against a very tough boxer. I know that many people thought he was going to be knocked out something which didn’t happen. He proved that he’s one of the best featherweights in South Africa.”
The fight against Sibisi came after opposition from the handlers of SA junior-featherweight champion Siyabulela Hem. The matter ended up going for arbitration where Fule was given the go ahead to face the reigning national featherweight titlist.
“That the fight went ahead was a victory on its own if you consider that it started inside the BSA offices. We won the arbitration and we then got threatened with litigation. Thankfully, Hem got stopped in his last fight,” Mshumpela said.
“Sibisi and his management are very humble. After the fight, Sibisi even acknowledged Fule as one of the best boxers. We are walking tall after the fight because we didn’t lose to a weak boxer.”
The loss to Sibisi was Fule’s first defeat in nine professional bouts. He has eight wins with four of those victories coming from knockouts, one loss and a draw. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
