London next stop for ‘road warrior’ Mthalane
SOUTH African flyweight boxer Moruti Mthalane, 38, faces another “test on the road” when he takes on 25-year-old undefeated Briton Sunny Edwards in the fourth defence of his IBF world title tonight in London.
Mthalane, a veteran of 39 professional fights spanning a career of two decades – he started out in December 2000 – is no stranger to fighting away from home. He is a true road warrior, and his last four bouts were in China, Japan, and Malaysia.
He is in his second spell as an IBF world champion. He first won the title in 2009 and then relinquished it shortly before he won the IBO strap in 2014. He regained the IBF crown in 2018.
He last fought in December 2019 when he won against Japan's Akira Yaegashi with a ninth-round TKO. He was due to make a rare South African appearance in December 2020, but after the promoter failed to meet obligations, Boxing South Africa called off the bout against Philippino Jayson Mama
As a result, Mthalane has gone 16 months without a fight, and reporters were quick to point this out at a London presser this week. His trainer Colin Nathan had some choice words for the media.
“Why don’t you say that to the three other guys who came to try to take his title off him?” responded Nathan.
“Moruti is a freak of nature.
"You say 16 months of inactivity, but we had a dress rehearsal for December that messed up on us."
Because of the modern-day evolving coronavirus curse, Mthalane had a most unusual build-up to the title defence because of England's 10-day quarantine for people travelling from South Africa, a 'red list' country.
Instead, Mthalane and his team spent two weeks in Tunisia, a 'green list' country and in that way, they were able to avoid quarantine.
Mthalane (39-2, 26KOs) is not dreaming of taking the short route today. "I do not think of myself as a knockout artist," he said. "If I score a knock out it will be a bonus."
Three years ago, Edwards (15-0, 4KOs) and Mthalane shared a gym in Ukraine for a short while.
"I have seen him spar up close and logged enough upstairs to think when the time comes, I would be able to take him," said Edwards.
Mthalane had the last word at the pre-fight media conference: "I'm not leaving my title here. I'm taking it home with me to South Africa."