Veteran Eastern Cape-born ring official Nkosinathi Clifford Mbelu is going to be one of the three judges when Mthatha-born boxer Sikho Nqothole trades blows with Briton Charlie Edwards in United Kingdom (UK) on Friday evening.
Trained by former South African bantamweight champion Phumzile Matyila, Nqothole meets Edwards in an International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-bantamweight elimination bout at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London.
Born in Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape’s Amathole District, Mbelu, a 2017 Male Ring Official of the Year nominee, will be officiating in what has been described as his first major assignment outside the African continent.
This is so even though Mbelu was one of the judges during a World Boxing Federation (WBF) super-middleweight title fight between Colombian Alexander Brand and Caneroon-born German boxer Bernard Donfack in Bogota, Colombia, in August 2015.
Based in Ilitha Park, Khayelitsha, Cape Town, Mbelu has been a ring official for more than two decades. He has officiated – both as a judge and a referee – in more than 160 bouts mostly in South Africa, Namibia and Tanzania.
This appointment is long overdue as he has been there , saw that and done it all.
We are fully behind you Cliffie, make us proud Togu ka Ngconde .