‘Guitarman’ strumming his way to the very top
Fans agog over Okolo’s great talent
AMASKHANDI song blares through the loud speakers to herald the entrance of two boxers who are about to do battle in the ring.
As the hall erupts into deafening screams with the majority of spectators singing and dancing along, someone bolts out of the dressing-room clad in traditional gear brandishing a guitar.
For a moment the audience imagines the person making the entrance is a maskhandi musician who will perform live before the fight.
It later transpires that the entrant is actually one of the two boxers, who are about to engage in a battle of attrition.
This is a familiar scene everytime Thembani Okolo makes a ring entrance, giving rise to his “Guitarman” moniker.
While he looks adept in guitar, Okolo’s best skills lie in flummoxing his opponents with deft moves in the ring.
Despite being relatively young at just 21 years old, Okolo is already touted as the next boxing talent to emerge from Port Elizabeth.
There is good reason for those close to him to believe in him, due to his dominance in the amateur ranks where he has won numerous medals, including gold at the national championships.
He started boxing at relative young age being a product of Motherwell Boxing Club that once received funding from a private company.
Now he has big task on his small shoulders to revive boxing in the region.
With just seven bouts in the paid ranks, Okolo is bitter that his fight record does not show 100% in the win- column after dropping a points decision to Mdantsane’s Dali Mangcotywa for the SA mini-flyweight title.
“We should have never lost that fight but I guess things happen for a reason,” he says.
This is why he has vowed to leave no stone unturned, when he gets another title shot against Mangcotywa’s conqueror, Siphamandla Baleni, at Mangaung Indoor Centre this evening.
“I can go on and on about why I lost to Mangcotywa but that will get me nowhere,” he says.
“What is important now is that I am getting another opportunity and now I will not leave that ring without the title.”
Okolo is happy that the fight will be held in a neutral venue in Mangaung, where the odds will be even for both boxers, unlike in the case in East London, where it is claimed local boxers are protected by officials.
And to tip the scales in his favour, he knows Baleni like the back of his hand as they used to engage in fierce battles in the amateur ranks.
“I am not going to reveal how our fights at the amateur used to pan out because that will not count in this bout. But Baleni is someone I know so it will not be a problem fighting him.”
Okolo is carrying the boxing hopes of Port Elizabeth which has fallen behind to its East London rival in terms of ring achievements.
Currently, the region that produced so many talented boxers even forcing East London trainers to poach some, has no national champion in the male section. The only champion from PE is Nozipho Bell who holds the female national title, but Okolo is confident of returning the glory to the region.
“We are carrying the hopes of the entire Port Elizabeth boxing community and we will not disappoint,” said the boxer’s trainer Mzwandile Sidina who has been with Okolo since the amateur ranks.
“This region used to produce such good boxers back in the day but somehow the sport is dwindling now.”
Now the responsibility to revive boxing in the region rests on the guitar wielding boxer.
Only Baleni stands in the way.