Visa conundrum for Tete

A visa fiasco has erupted in the team of Zolani Tete ahead of his biggest fight when he will engage in three world title fight unification bout in US next Saturday.

Tete will face Philippinesborn US-based Nonito Donaire in a WBO , WBA, WBC diamond title bout unification at Cajun Dome in Lafayette, Louisiana.

The fight will be the biggest by a South African boxer as Tete will not only walk away with three major world titles in one fight but he will also qualify for the finals of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) if he wins.

However his team has been rocked by the delay in acquiring visas for his trainers.

Tete is already in US preparing for the fight under legendary trainer Floyd Mayweather snr in Las Vegas where he has already spent a week.

However his trainers Loyiso Mtya, Phumzile Matyhila and Mhikiza Myekeni have been left behind after they could not secure visas to be part of the team.

This has raised concerns from the boxing fraternity with some even blaming his management for not ensuring that the trainers are part of the team.

But Tete’s manager Mla Tengimfene said matter was out of their hands.

Tengimfene said Mtya and Matyhila would join the team as soon as they had obtained their visas.

“This matter is beyond our control,” he said from US.

“We applied for the visas at the same time but theirs were delayed. I know people are already making up their stories about this but the reality is that it is due to visa delay.”

There have been concerns that Tete would go to the fight confused by the fight plan after being trained by his trainers at home and Mayweather snr before the fight.

But Tengimfene allayed fears, arguing that Mayweather was working according to the fight plan designed by Tete’s trainers at home.

“Mayweather knows what the fight plan is and he is not tampering with it. In fact I regularly communicate with the trainers back at home to inform them what we working on.”

Mtya said Tete was already an experienced boxer who knew what to do in a fight.

“He knows what we have worked on so the concern over him getting mixed signals does not hold,” he said.

Tete, who at 31 years old is Donaire’s junior by five years, will be looking to snap the Filipino’s good run against SA boxers, having beaten three so far.