Mbenqe must show he’s made of right stuff
The fighter’s dream to conquer world to be step closer if he beats Mexican
The move to guide Mdantsane boxer Thulani Mbenge to the summit of world boxing will continue when he is matched against tough Mexican Miguel Vasquez in Johannesburg in December.
Mbenge’s promoter Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotion (GGP) told the Daily Dispatch that Mbenge would headline a bumper show at Emperors Palace on December 8. The show will also feature the highly-anticipated rematch between Thomas Oosthuizen and Thabiso Mchunu.
The pair fought to a close fight with Oosthuizen scraping through with a majority decision when two draws handed him the fight by two points while the third had the fight a draw.
“Yes the deal is done and Oosthuizen and Mchunu will rematch on the undercard of Mbenge,” said Berman.
Mbenge, a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, has stepped up opposition, knocking out experienced Argentinean Diego Chavez to win the IBO welterweight title in his last bout in June.
But now he will face a far tougher foe in Vasquez who defended his IBF world lightweight title six times before losing it to Mickey Bey, forcing him to move up the division.
Since losing to Bey, he also suffered a knockout loss to unbeaten British star Josh Taylor who is tipped to conquer the world.
Vasquez, 31, has rebounded with a win over veteran Cosme Rivera in his last bout in April this year.
The Mexican is expected to
year-old fighter expected to knock out or dominate rival
give Mbenge plenty of problems.
But Berman said Mbenge should be able to deal with opponents like Vasquez in order to conquer the star-studded welterweight division.
“If Mbenge is what we make out to be, then he should be able to deal with boxers like Vasquez,” said Berman.
Mbenge and Taylor are two of the hottest prospects in the welterweight division, with comparisons between them unavoidable.
This means the 26-year-old hard punching Mdantsane born will be expected to either knock out Vasquez or dominate him.
However he has displayed a talent to scale the heights judging by the manner in which he knocked out Chavez.
The win marked the 14th time in as many professional bouts with 11 stoppages.
Beating a recognisable boxer like Vasquez will help Mbenge move closer to a WBC title shot.
He is already down at 14th spot in the world sanctioning body whose title is held by Shawn Porter, who won by beating Danny Garcia at the weekend.