Tete to use his fists to do talking in Belfast

DESPITE being known as a cautious boxer, Zolani Tete is vowing to go for a knockout when he makes the maiden defence of his WBO world bantamweight crown against KwaZuluNatal’s Siboniso Gonya.

The fight will take place far away from both boxers’ homes, with the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, playing as hosts.

Gonya has fought just 12 times with a single loss but is a relatively unknown boxer in his neighbouring province of Eastern Cape. His only defeat was by Duncan Village boxer Thabo Sishwane, through a knockout.

With Tete boasting a new technical team after the departure of chief trainer Loyiso Mtya, the Mdantsane left-hander wants to recapture the form that saw him knocking out 20 of his 25 victims.

“We are definitely going for the knockout in this fight,” admitted the fighter’s manager Mla Tengimfene.

“There’s no way we could be satisfied with winning by points when there is a boxer from Duncan Village who knocked out Gonya. We have to make a big statement in Belfast.”

Tete has been in camp in Johannesburg for three weeks now with assistant trainers Mhikiza Myekeni and Phumzile Matyhila.

While Mtya inculcated a cautious approach to Tete, leading to some of his bouts being a bit boring as they were one-sided, the veteran trainer revealed he was planning to shore up Tete’s offence going forward.

But he did not get the chance as he and Tengimfene had a fallout that led to him leaving the technical team.

The fight will form part of the big card featuring the return of Irish star Carl Frampton taking on Mexican Horacio Garcia.

Two other major bouts will be on the cards including the IBF world junior-bantamweight title defence by Filipino Jerwin Ancajas against Irish prospect Jamie Conlan.

While Ancajas announced that he would be leaving for Belfast to wrap up preparations for the fight, the Tete camp is not in a hurry, opting to conclude everything at home, before leaving on about November 11.

While Tete is busy with preparations, the WBO has already installed a mandatory for his title which he should honour in a period decided by the world body shortly after the Gonya fight.

This when Argentinean veteran of 42 years Omar Narvaez won the rights to challenge Tete by stopping Russian Nikolai Potapov in three rounds this past weekend.

By winning the fight, Narvaez will now bid for the third title in a third division when he challenges Tete, having won the WBO in the flyweight and junior-bantamweight divisions.