Just believe in the Loch Ness Monster
THE boxer they call the Loch Ness Monster knows he’s meant to lose to his next opponent.
But Shaun Ness (below) smiles calmly and says he’s spotted flaws in the style of unbeaten Thulani Mbenge.
Ness is the South African welterweight champion, yet he is considered the underdog for this Emperors Palace scrap on Sunday afternoon.
Mbenge, who has bowled over all nine of his opponents since the start of his paid career, is promoted by Rodney Berman, the money behind the fight.
“I think he’s got real power,” Ness says of his foe. “But I’ve seen flaws and I want to expose that.
“I AM going to expose that,” he added, his emphasis on the second word.
Few people believed dethroned world heavyweight champion Max Schmeling when he claimed to have spotted a flaw in then unbeaten Joe Louis in 1936, but he backed it up in the ring.
And Berman’s prospects don’t always win — Flo Simba imploded spectacularly in his 11th fight.
But Mbenge is in a different class.
As an amateur he won a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
He’s also a fulltime boxer, while Ness, 34, is involved in distribution for a dairy company.
But Ness has an amateur pedigree too.
The sport is intertwined with his DNA, dating back to his paternal grandfather.
Dad Nicky, a former national amateur champion, runs the famous Booysens gym in Johannesburg south, the fourth head coach since the club started in 1928.
Ness, also a past national amateur champion, has a professional EXPECTED TO PREVAIL: Unbeaten Thulani Mbenge record of 10 wins, one defeat and two draws. But the southpaw’s biggest advantage is rounds fought. Ness has had 64 compared to Mbenge’s 15, which includes six first-round blowouts. He’s never been past four rounds. “Shaun has been 12 rounds twice. He was stopped years ago, he’s been cut in a fight, he’s been through it all, he knows what to expect,” says his trainer, Colin Nathan. With his shaven head and Joburg south background, Ness looks like someone you’d cross the road to avoid in daylight. But the fighter is as relaxed as they come, even taking his time to consider his responses before answering questions. It’s hard to imagine he can muster up the aggression a boxer needs. “I am a very calm person,” he admits. “[But] I get a bit more prickly closer to a fight.”