Mboyiya hits snag in scales battle
THE inauguration of the much-vaunted Premier Boxing League (PBL) was preceded with drama at the final weighin yesterday when the reigning national champion Aphiwe Mboyiya failed to make the prescribed weight for tonight’s eagerly anticipated featherweight clash against Macbute Sinyabi.
Mboyiya weighed in 57.6kg – 450 grams over the limit.
Reports surfaced that Mboyiya’s camp has been rocked by a dispute in the week leading to the fight. The fighter was apparently taken away from Eyethu Boxing Club by Dingaan Somsorha to train exclusively under him.
Somsorha’s gymnasium has been a sister club to Eyethu under Mzi Mnguni with all his fighters – including Thabo Sonjica who dethroned Sinyabi in March – preparing there for their crucial fights.
However this week the two clubs were embroiled in a misunderstanding resulting in Somsorha pulling Mboyiya out of the Mnguni camp.
One effect of this, it was claimed, was that Mboyiya failed to reach his goal weight.
Mnguni said: “I am not surprised he is overweight.”
Somsorha, who sat at the back of the weigh-in ceremony, confirmed that he took Mboyiya from Eyethu but refused to elaborate.
He, however, expressed shock at Mboyiya’s weight woes, and claimed the young champion had been making the weight in training. “Maybe we were using a wrong scale,” he suggested.
Sinyabi, who lost his SA juniorfeatherweight crown to Sonjica, declared that he was already a winner of tonight’s clash which is one of three bouts to kick off the PBL at the Orient Theatre.
“You can see that this boy is already dead,” Sinyabi said, after scaling 56.80kg to fall within the limit.
“This has never been a difficult fight for me but now this boy has made it easier by not making the weight.”
Mboyiya was given an hour to shed the extra weight but failed, thereby forfeiting 30% of his purse.
Other boxers on the PBL card easily made their weights with the lightweight clash between namesakes Vusumzi Bokolo and Vusumzi Tyatyeka promising to be a war of attrition judging by the comments of the two fighters.
Bokolo ,who has lost to Tyatyeka by knockouts on two previous occasions, said: “Xhosas say the third time is lucky and you will see that tonight.”
Tyatyeka from Cape Town said the script will not have to be changed. “Two knockouts in our two previous fights and the story continues,” he said.
The third clash between rising star Makazole Tete and veteran former SA junior-flyweight champion Mfundo Gwayana also prompted bold predictions.
Tete, who has knocked out all but one of his seven opponents in as many fights, said: “It will be knockout as usual.” Gwayana said it was make or break for him as he was looking to relaunch his career.