ALL FIRED UP AND READY TO KNOCK THE HELL OUT OF EACH OTHER
Ngebiyana vows to ‘whip his rival’s butt’; Nogogo says he will retire Funeka
The Orient Theatre could be transformed into a ‘war zone’ if the heated exchange between four boxers scheduled to fight on Sunday is anything to go by
East London’s Orient Theatre could be transformed into a “war zone” – that’s if the heated exchange among four of the boxers scheduled to fight on Sunday is anything to go by.
This after Sikho Nqothole, Sabelo Ngebiyana, Ali Funeka and Uyanda Nogogo as well as their handlers, stopped just short of coming to blows at the boxers’ pre-fight medicals.
Ngebiyana set off the verbal barrage ahead of his battle with amateur rival Nqothole on Sunday – in a rematch of their bout in November in Swaziland, where he emerged victorious.
Asked why he agreed to a rematch, Ngebiyana said: “Because I know I will again whip his butt.”
An eloquent Ngebiyana said he did not have to think twice when Nqothole requested that the two boxers square off in the ring once again.
But Nqothole, who has a usually calm demeanour, refused to give Ngebiyana enough credit for his victory in that November bout.
“On Sunday I will set the record straight, because this the fight I wanted. I could have fought someone else but I wanted to erase this blemish on my fight record.”
Nqothole’s loss was something of a shock as the former amateur gold medallist was destined for bigger fights and tipped as a future world champion.
As if those verbal barbs were not enough to fire up proceedings leading into Sunday, Funeka and Nogogo took things a notch higher, forcing their handlers to get drawn into their confrontation.
Funeka, a veteran of 40 years, with 52 bouts behind his name, has been refusing to speak about the fight since being announced by Xaba Promotions.
However, at the premedical on Thursday, he finally broke his silence describing Nogogo as just a kid who would quickly fall by the wayside.
“This fight will be my easiest and I say that because I taught this boy boxing,” he said.
“Now he wants to use me as a stepping stone? He is mistaken; in fact everyone who is judging me by age is in for a big surprise.”
A surprisingly confident Nogogo fired back with some barbs of his own.
He said he would send Funeka into retirement.
“It is unfortunate that I will have to do this but he [Funeka] is only headed in one direction – and that is retirement,” he said.
Nogogo refuted suggestions Funeka had taught him to box, saying he and the veteran had only been involved in sparring sessions at one time.
“For him to say he taught me boxing is not true. By the time I met him I was already a boxer who had made a name for myself.”
Nogogo, who at 20 is half Funeka’s age, has fought just seven times, winning six, with the only loss suffered at the hands of Mziwoxolo Ndwayana who went on to win the SA welterweight crown.
He nearly quit early against Ndwayana when he was dropped to the canvas by wicked body blows, but insisted he was denied a win.
Speaking with a confident demeanour, Nogogo added spice to the buildup when he put his fist to the chin of Funeka during the photo-shoot. This angered Funeka’s trainer Barney Nkonki, who confronted the 20-yearold, telling him that he was not on Funeka’s level.
“You are behaving like you have been there, done that, but you will find out that Funeka is way above your level,” Nkonki charged.
“The only boxer you must be fighting is Athi Mahanjana [his other boxer] who is your age and your level and he would knock you out.”
With this Nogogo’s manager Lonwabo Witbooi intervened.
“There is no way that Funeka will beat Nogogo regardless of how emotional you are,” Witbooi barked back.
[Funeka] is only headed in one direction – that is to quit