Lerato ‘Lights Out’ Dlamini has attributed lack of action being the driving force behind his decision to end more than eight years of working with Colin ‘Nomakanjani’ Nathan as he left Hot Box Gym in Balfour Park to team up with Sean Smith in Sunninghill, Johannesburg.
Dlamini’s last fight under Nathan was a fourth round stoppage loss to highly-rated Japanese boxer, Mikito Nakano, in Japan six months ago. And following that loss, Dlamini dropped out of the world ratings.
“It’s true that I have left Hot Box and I’m being trained by Sean Smith now. Inactivity forced me to change camps. My sponsors were also complaining about my inactivity and threatened to pull out,” Dlamini, who started working with Smith on Tuesday, said.
Once trained by Harry Ramogoadi-Manaka before teaming up with Nathan, Dlamini fought 10 times between May this year and April 2021. Other than being a professional boxer, Welkom-born Dlamini is in the courier and Uber businesses.
When he was rated highly in the International Boxing Federation (IBF) ratings, Dlamini was, at one stage, touted as the next world champion from South Africa. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
