Vetyeka may secure fight with Indonesia’s John
SIMPIWE “V12” Vetyeka and Chris “The Dragon” John could square off in a super fight before the end of the year, trainer Nick Durandt hinted yesterday.
Vetyeka boxed his way to a possible moneyspinning fight with the Indonesian boxing idol, the longest reigning WBA superfeatherweight champion, by winning the IBO belt from John’s compatriot Daud Cino Yordan in Jakarta last Sunday.
Vetyeka, fighting before about 60,000 Indonesians at the Bung Karno Tennis Stadium, stopped Yordan in the 12th round.
John’s recent fight with Satoshi Hosono was declared a no contest. The boxers accidentally clashed heads in the third round and John was cut badly over his right eye, which stopped the fight on medical grounds.
John remains undefeated in 51 fights, with 22 knockouts.
“There is serious talk of a unification fight,” said Durandt. “The offer was made before Vetyeka’s fight against Daud. We made it clear at the press conference that we will beat Daud, go home, and come back to end John’s reign and they just laughed at us because they did not believe that Vetyeka could beat Daud.”
Durandt said that his boxers have never disgraced themselves against big-name fighters in overseas bouts.
“A lot of people thought I took Vetyeka to the lion’s den but we knew who we were fighting. I have taken fighters overseas as underdogs and we came back as cham- pions,” said Durandt, whose charge, Thulani “Sugarboy” Malinga, left about 55,000 vociferous English fans crying after deposing their idol Nigel Benn as the WBC super-middleweight champion in the UK in 1996.
Durandt said Vetyeka performed exceptionally well and he completely outclassed Yordan. But Fightnews.com reported that Vetyeka was way behind on points and needed a stoppage to win.
“I don’t know which fight the reporter from Fightnews was watching,” Durandt said.
“I checked the scorecards after the fight and all three judges had Vetyeka winning eight rounds. We actually did not need a stoppage,” he said.
Vetyeka shared Durandt’s sentiments. “Daud came back strong in rounds nine, 10 and 11 searching for a knockout.
“I dropped him with a left hook to the chin in round 12. He got up but I dug deep in his body and he could not take it. I noticed early in the fight that he did not like body shots. So, ja, I’m looking forward to fighting Chris John.”