Mthatha ready to roar for Konkco
‘Son of the soil’ Konkco and rival gearing up for their world title fight
Mthatha will come alive today when a contingent of boxers arrive to participate in Sunday’s world title extravaganza.
Proud “son of the soil” Simpiwe Konkco will be among the arrivals together with his head trainer Colin Nathan and IBO officials who will handle his fight.
Konkco returns to his birthplace for the first time in five years to defend his IBO world mini-flyweight title against Filipino Toto Landero at the Walter Sisulu University (WSU) on Sunday.
Although Konkco was born in the area he has since relocated to Johannesburg where he trains at Nathan’s gymnasium HotBox.
The 32-year-old has been preparing for the fight in Johannesburg although the training was temporarily interrupted when Nathan had to accompany his other boxer Moruti Mthalane to Malaysia where he won the IBF flyweight crown.
But Nathan is now back calling the shots making sure that Konkco will be in the best shape
The boxers will be handing out tickets for the fight at taxi ranks
of his life despite not having fought for over a year.
Konkco last fought in June 10 last year when he beat another Filipino Lito Dante to register the second defence of the IBO crown.
Despite being the local fighter, Konkco will find Landero there already with the Filipino having arrived yesterday with his entourage.
Events scheduled for the week will literally bring Mthatha to a standstill.
Besides the arrivals today, there is a planned press conference which is expected to be jam-packed.
The briefing will be held at Rotary Hall in Ngangelizwe township just a stone’s throw away from Konkco’s birthplace.
Konkco, whose fight record of five defeats and 18 wins does not truly reflect his fighting capabilities, is rated highly by other world bodies.
He is is looking to engage in a unification bout if he beats Landero.
The fight, organised by Last Born Promotions (LBP) in association with OR Tambo District Municipality, will be the first ever world championship to be held in the former Transkei and is therefore expected to draw a full house.
LBP director Xolani Mampunye said today’s events will include the arrival of Namibian visitors including Jonas Matheus who will take on Makazole Tete for the WBA Pan-African junior-featherweight title.
“We are expecting the mood of the fight to kick in from today after the press briefing,” he said. “This is the big event for sport as a whole in Mthatha so the carnival atmosphere must dominate.”
The event is held to celebrate former president Nelson Mandela centenary and already plans are afoot to coincide it with other events scheduled for the occasion. Tomorrow all the boxers including Konkco, Landero, Tete and Matheus will roam the streets to mingle with fans while also participating in a public workout.
The boxers will be handing out tickets for the fight at taxi ranks as well as other public places.
The final weigh-in will be held at the Rotary Hall on Saturday with the tournament scheduled to star at 2pm live on SuperSport. “Mthatha is definitely the place to be this weekend,” added Mampunye, for a tournament with all the hallmarks of a ‘Raging Bull’ slugfest.