As Thinumzi Gqola is deep in his preparations for his upcoming fight against Athanathi Mxoli, his trainer Ncedo Cecane is happy with the manner in which his boxer continues to acquit himself at training.
Gqola is set to make the second defence of his South African minimumweight title against Mxoli in an all-Duncan Village shootout scheduled for the Orient Theatre in KuGompo City on Friday, 26 June.
The champion has spent the past three weeks preparing and sharpening his skills at the WBC Gym in downtown Johannesburg.
According to Cecane, highly-rated Zimbabwean boxer Beaven Sibanda and Mpendulo Msimanga are among the boxers, who have had sparring sessions with Gqola.
“Everything is going well in as far as our preparations are concerned. We are very happy with the sparring sessions we had with Sibanda and Msimanga. These sparring sessions are helping Gqola,” Cecane said.
The former SA flyweight champion added: “We are very happy to be here because we get some assistance that we normally don’t get back home. And we will only return home on the week of the fight.”
Gqola won the title after he outpointed former champion Mthokozisi Ngxaka in August last year. He then defended the crown against the same boxer after Ngxaka’s handlers had asked for a review of their fight, which came up with a different outcome that said the Mthatha-born boxer had won. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
