By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Harry Ramogoadi-Manaka has revealed that Sharadene Fortuin is sharp and will be crowned the new South African female bantamweight champion on Sunday.
Ramogoadi-Manaka, who trains Fortuin, is going to usher the Eastern Cape lass into battle when she challenges current SA female bantamweight titlist Melissa Miller at a Gauteng Boxing Promoters Association (GBPA) tournament at the Booysens Boxing Gym in Johannesburg.
“We’re obviously toning it down now. The hard work has been done,” Ramogoadi-Manaka revealed.
“Obviously, she has not fought for a long time. We sharpened her up and brought her back to where she had been before. She’s a former world champion, she knows the story.”
Ramogoadi-Manaka also revealed that he has added a few aspects to the Seymour-born former International Boxing Organisation (IBO) female bantamweight champion’s game and that’s going to be evident on Sunday.
“Every trainer is different. I’ve just added a few aspects to sharpen her mind. It’s almost like working with someone who was asleep and then you bring her back to life,” he said.
“I believe every good trainer should bring something to a boxer. We never stop learning. She’s a top athlete, a talented boxer.”
The VIP Boxing Academy chief trainer added that they are not underestimating Miller whom he described as a tough boxer.
“We’re just gonna do our thing. We’re expecting a tough fight. We’re expecting Melissa to bring the fight to Sharadene. We also expect Melissa to bring her A game. Sharadene is going to come out victorious in the end,” Ramogoadi-Manaka concluded.
Fortuin, who has won 11 times, lost once and drawn once, last fought when she defeated Thema Zuma in December 2018. On the other hand, Miller’s last fight was a loss to Simangele Hadebe in March this year. Miller has five wins, 10 losses and three draws.
