Xaba again delivers on end-of-year blockbuster
THE curtain will come down when two regional boxers battle for the SA junior-lightweight crown with promoter Xaba Promotions and Events (XPE) again in the fray.
Renowned for organising explosive bouts, XPE is back again doing what it does best – dishing out what could be considered a perfect end-of-the-year blockbuster at Orient Theatre on December 16.
The main bout will see reigning SA junior-lightweight champion Aphiwe Mboyiya defend his crown against Phila Mpontshane in the latest instalment of a Duncan Village v Mdantsane rivalry.
Mboyiya, who hails from Duncan Village, now resides in Amalinda. This, however, does not stop him from being associated with the shack-littered township which has produced talented boxers in the region.
Mboyiya was originally scheduled to travel to Russia to engage in an unification clash of his IBF youth title on November 4.
But the fight fell through for inexplicable reasons paving the way for the left-hander to accommodate Mpontshane.
Already the two boxers have been pumping up their chances on social networks in what is shaping up to be on par with the highly anticipated SA featherweight title clash between Macbute Sinyabi and Azinga Fuzile which took place in September.
The Sinyabi-Fuzile clash was also organised by XPE to underline the sterling job the promotion is doing in organising thrilling bouts.
“We do not wrap our boxers in cotton wool,” XPE boss Ayanda Matiti said.
“We believe in organising the want and this is one of them.”
The fight has all the ingredients for a thrilling bout.
Firstly, it will pit Duncan Village against Mdantsane and such clashes always spark the fireworks.
It also pits Mboyiya against a boxer from Eyethu Boxing Club where he used to train and actually made his name from by winning the SA featherweight crown as huge underdog against Limpopo’s Godfrey Nzimande.
Since the fight, Mboyiya’s relations with Eyethu bosses began to deteriorate leading him bolting the stable, especially after his knockout defeat by Lusanda Komanisi to surrender the title.
There were rumours that Komanisi’s win over Mboyiya was plotted by Eyethu bosses, especially considering Komanisi was later promoted by Eyethu Promotion in his next title defence against Sabelo Nokhene.
Mboyiya has vowed to keep his hard-fought belt which he wrestled from Jasper Seroka in emphatic fashion when he was given next to nothing to win. “This belt is going nowhere,” he said.
“Phila has come at a wrong time – just when I am on another level.”
Mpontshane is also confident even though he will come to the fight under a cloud after a stabbing incident involving him and his stablemate Asiphe Ntshili at the club.
However, the boxer has since put the issue behind him and is now gunning for a title to end the unprecedented drought of national titles at the once champion-churning club. fights the fans