Tenge calls on experience to defend crown
GOOD form and years of experience assisted the Eastern Cape’s Noni Tenge to successfully defend her Junior Welterweight World Boxing Federation (WBF) title against Mapule Ngubane in Kagiso, Johannesburg on Friday.
Tenge last defended her title in March last year and struggled to keep up with the youthful Ngubane.
Tenge, 36, had been itching for a fight and was given three months to prepare for her title defence against the No 1 contender.
Her experience kicked in just after the fifth round and saw her take the match to the 10th and final round, where she won by a unanimous decision.
“The fight was really tough because it came at short notice,” Tenge said.
“I had been inactive for almost two years and this affected my performance in the ring.
“My opponent was at an advantage because she had been active in back-to-back fights since August.
“The inactivity took its toll on me as I was fatigued for most of the rounds in the fight.
“I had three months to prepare and had to reduce my weight by 14kg in 21 days.”
Tenge, from Mdantsane in East London, said she has joined the Pack stable under the leadership of contact sport enthusiast and boxing coach Rocky de Ridder.
She will now be flying the boxing flag in the Nelson Mandela Bay region.
“Having seen that Noni struggled with fatigue in our last fight, we will now need to work hard on her fitness as we prepare for upcoming international fights,” De Ridder said.
Tenge has her sights set on taking the World Boxing Championship title from the No 1 contender from Germany.
Her title defence has seen a number of contenders from all over the world challenging Tenge for her belt.