Funeka plays high stakes
MDANTSANE veteran Ali Funeka will engage in his most crucial fight in the last seven years when he takes unbeaten Australian Jeff Horn in a WBO world welterweight title eliminator at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand tomorrow morning (SA time).
The fight will serve as an undercard to the WBO world heavyweight title clash between Kiwi Joseph Parker and Mexican Andy Ruiz.
It will mark the second time the 39-year-old Mdantsane veteran fights in a world heavyweight title fight tournament after serving as a supporting bout to the WBA heavyweight title clash between Russian Ruslan Chagaev and Lucas Browne of Australia in March this year.
Coincidentally Funeka also fought an unbeaten boxer in Grozny when he inflicted the first professional loss to Viskhan Murzabekov.
While the stakes are high tomorrow, Funeka is confident that history will repeat itself with far more major consequences this time around as the winner will catapult himself into major and lucrative bouts.
So big is the Auckland event that Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of US is already there to watch proceedings live and assess the FunekaHorn fight to gauge their ability as the next opponent for his biggest client Manny Pacquiao.
Pacquiao holds the WBO welterweight crown and the winner between Funeka and Horn will position himself for a possible shot at the Filipino.
Arum who also promotes Ruiz has already dropped hints about including the Funeka-Horn winner in the list of possible opponents for the Filipino Senator.
“This is the biggest fight of my career since my failed world title challenges,” Funeka admitted.
Fight promoter Dean Lonergan who visited East London recently as a guest of Funeka’s promoter Ayanda Matiti confirmed that Funeka would stand on the verge of major fights if he wins tomorrow.
“Remember that Jeff is also rated second for the IBF title held by Kell Brook so you can see that Ali will be in a pretty good place if he wins,” said Lonergan.
The Kiwi promoter has struck a healthy partnership with Matiti and the pair went to convince SA broadcasters to partner in the tournament.
As a result the show will be televised live at SABCTV2 from around 9am tomorrow.
“This will give Funeka a big opportunity to showcase his talent not only in the country but around the world,” said Matiti.
Matiti was allocated a private suit on the flight to New Zealand to underline the pedigree with which Lonergan holds him.
Funeka understands that a loss will most likely end his aspiration of engaging in big fights hence he has vowed to leave nothing to chance.
“I do not care if Horn has never been beaten before but I have utmost confidence in my own ability. And this fight has invoked that inner spirit in me to perform at my best,” he said of his 28-year-old foe.
Indeed Funeka was accused of taking unheralded Ghananian Justice Addy who dropped him hard before the veteran boxer rallied to stop him in three rounds in defence of his WBO Africa title in July.
Having yearned to face Pacquiao, Funeka knows that this is the closest he has ever come to facing the popular Filipino.
“It only takes this fight and the Pacquiao fight will be possible. Fortunately his promoter is here as well so he will get first-hand information on what I can do.”
AZINGA Fuzile is the new face of local boxing meaning his every move is now being closely monitored. This is why his ring return has sparked high anticipation in the boxing fraternity even though his opponent for tonight’s clash at Mdantsane Indoor Centre is nothing special. The 20-year-old Duncan Village scholar became an overnight sensation when he stunningly dethroned experienced Macbute Sinyabi for his SA featherweight crown this past September. That he achieved the feat in only his fifth professional bout underlined his immense talent honed at the amateur ranks where he won numerous international titles. Now he is on course to translate his amateur success by winning as many titles as possible with the crown he seized from Sinyabi being his first. Next in line will be the WBC Youth title he will contest for against Georgian Giorgi Gochisvili whose seven losses and two draws in 19 bouts does not suggest that he will likely stand in Fuzile’s way. An ever relaxed boxer, Fuzile does not want to entertain the talk that he will have it easy against the import. “Every boxer is different in that he has his own style,” he said when asked about the fight. “This fight might prove to be the more difficult assignment than the Sinyabi fight. Or it may become the easiest end before it had even started.” Either way Fuzile is confident of having his way after all is said and done as he is in all his other next bouts.
‘I do not have such thing as a defeat in my vocabulary.”
The fight is promoted by Rumble Africa Promotions which has already began plotting for Fuzile’s future.
Getting him to fight for the WBC youth title will go a long way in advancing his career as he looks to conquer the world and follow in the footsteps of another former amateur superstar Vasyl Lomachenko.
And already the pair bears uncanny similarities in that they are both left-handed boxers blessed with defensive wizardry, have already made their mark in the game in less than five bouts and are considered the ultra-talented duo.
Lomachenko impressively forced heavyhanded Jamaican Nicholas Walters to quit in their WBO junior-lightweight title clash to record his first defence of his second divisional belt after winning his first world title in the featherweight in only his third professional bout.
The fact that Fuzile also campaigns in the featherweight division is another added similarity with the Ukrainian.
But the “Golden Boy” is refusing to be likened with Lomachenko arguing that he has not won a world title as yet.
“It is premature to put me and Loma in one sentence for now until I have also won a world title.”
The tournament will also feature another talent Ludumo Lamati who also had an outstanding amateur career.
Lamati will be chasing for the ABU junior-featherweight crown against Mudde Ntambi Rabison of Uganda hoping for a win to help him crack the WBC ratings.
There will be six other bouts on the card that starts at 7pm with just R80 getting people inside.