Why Sugar ain’t always so sweet in boxing
How much do veterans Simba and Klassen have left?
● Flo Simba always faces two opponents when he gets into the ring, but technology helps him keep an eye on the one.
Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 16, Simba uses a glucose monitoring system on his thigh which sends readings of his blood-sugar level to a receiver via a radio signal at ringside.
“It’s not just to warn about the sugar level dropping,” said the 29-year-old, who on Friday engages in the second fight of his second comeback. “I’ve also got to watch that it doesn’t get too high. The adrenaline can push it through the roof. I’ve got to keep my blood sugar within a certain band.”
Simba went unbeaten for his first 10 bouts as a professional, until running into veteran Frans Botha in mid-2011. Since then he’s had eight fights — two wins and three losses until September 2012, and then a win and a loss in 2015. He’s now 1-0 on his third incarnation as a paid fighter.
He hasn’t strung together two fights in a row since before losing to Botha, and there’s a chorus calling for him to quit.
“A lot of people say, ‘Flo, it’s too dangerous’. But just as many people are saying ‘you can become a champion’,” said Simba. The bout against Justice Siliga is for the vacant WBA Pan Africa heavyweight belt.
Simba was just 10 when Malcolm Klassen made his paid debut in 1999.
A former two-time IBF junior-lightweight champion, Klassen hasn’t been beaten by a South African boxer since 2007, when he lost on points to Mzonke Fana.
Now 36, few people give Klassen a chance against unbeaten Azinga Fuzile for the IBF Africa junior-lightweight title in East London this afternoon (SS8 from 2pm).
“He’s not the same fighter,” Azinga, 22, said this week. “If I was fighting the Klassen who stopped Cassius Baloyi [in 2009] I’d say ‘ja, I’m going into a tough fight’. But now, no.”
Klassen, unlike Simba, hasn’t had to face calls to hang up his gloves, though that could change if he performs poorly today.
Former IBF welterweight champion Isaac Hlatshwayo recently admitted he should have quit after losing his title to Jan Zaveck in 2009, at the age of 32.
Sebastiaan Rothmann is another one who overstayed his welcome. “It wasn’t about money, it was more about the adrenaline. You can’t get adrenaline like that anywhere else,” said Rothmann, 31 when he hit his sellby date. But there’s no cut-off age for boxers.
Enjoys playing chess
Heavyweight Luke “Sergeant” Sutherland, 34, goes into his third professional bout in Pretoria this afternoon, taking on SA champion Ruann Visser in a non-title bout (Kwese 285 from 2pm).
The father of two, an electrical engineer who enjoys playing chess, has his own apparel brand based on his ring name, SGT.
He just needs a career to back it up. Sutherland boxed as an amateur years ago, but more than a year of disappointing inactivity — going to tournaments to find there were no opponents — forced him to quit.
He returned years later, first in white-collar bouts.
Simba, also a chess player who plans to resume his civil engineering studies, gave up the amateur game for similar reasons.
Simba’s former trainer Harold Volbrecht, among those who thinks he should call it a day, concedes the boxer can punch hard.
Simba is keen to make this comeback last. “I want to make something of this. For the next six years.”