Nqothole out to avenge his only defeat

● Sikho Nqothole will try to avenge the only professional defeat of his career when he takes on Sabelo Ngebinyana for the vacant SA junior-bantamweight crown at the Orient Theatre in East London.

“Sequence” Nqothole was the rising star, a former six-time national amateur champion with a bright future before running into Ngebinyana, who had lost two of his previous four bouts.

Ngebinyana won a unanimous decision. But Mthatha-raised Nqothole, who fights out of Alan Toweel junior’s gym in Johannesburg, is confident he will turn it around today.

“There’s nothing special I have to change,” Nqothole said, adding he had been sucked out of his game plan.

“I’m not that person to follow the opponent, I always bring the opponent to myself. I control the game.

“But that time everything changed. I even asked myself after the fight: what happened? I’m not tired, I didn’t have a bruise on my face, I was looking good.”

Toweel, hoping to have his maiden SA champion crowned today, believed the fight changed when the two fighters were told to shake hands at the start. Instead of tapping gloves, Ngebinyana hit down hard.

“It surprised me also. Without making excuses, we lost the fight [but] we fell into his hands.”

But Nqothole is eager for the return. “I wanted the rematch because I did not feel like I had taken punishment. If I had taken punishment I would have decided not to chase him, go my own route.”