Intriguing battle of the heavies
Big fight looms for Nebe and Jeputers
EVEN THOUGH there are two cracking WBA Pan African title fights, the non-title heavyweight bout between debutants Wilhelm Nebe of South Africa and Malawi’s Gilson Jeputers has attracted more attention in respect of the Fox Sports Africa Boxing tournament scheduled for Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Centre this coming Friday, November 23.
“There’s something about heavyweights that fight fans love and we’ve been inundated with request in the recent months to bring on the big boys especially at Sibaya,” said Barry Lambert, senior advisor for Fox Sports Africa and the promoter of Fox Sports Africa Boxing.
“It may be that the local fans were disappointed when the heavyweight fight between Marc Subramoney and Justice Siliga was called off at the last moment when we were at Sibaya the last time around.
“We certainly have the ‘heavies’ now and we hope they live up to expectations.”
Meanwhile Alan Toweel, manager-trainer of Akani Phuzi, has warned his WBA Pan African cruiserweight champion to be careful of Afinni Abiodun’s big and powerful right hand in his title defence over 12 rounds.
Phuzi, himself, is a big puncher and moves swiftly in the ring but he tends to leave himself open to the right punch.
“I’ve seen the Nigerian in action a few times and he has a sweet right hand and a lovely jab.
“Both fighters are evenly matched and I believe it could go all the way but Afinni Abiodun’s right and the scoring jab is what worries me.
“We’ve worked hard on getting Akani more compact. Hopefully it will work on the night,” Toweel said.
In the second title fight South Africa’s WBA Pan African lightweight champion, Ayanda Nkosi, who has a wonderful 10-win and one loss record, puts his crown on the line against Botswana’s ‘Glamour Boy’ Steven Bagwasi.
The Botswana man is unbeaten in five encounters and has shown great promise since his Africa Boxing debut late last year. He has been begging for a title crack and the time has finally arrived for the youngster.
Now that he has finally been given the opportunity it will be interesting to see how well he does against Nkosi, who is a game fighter and who comes from the Vusi Malinga camp.
Nkosi said: “I’ve seen Bagwasi fight on a few occasions and I know he is going to be a tough customer on the night. “He is fit and he punches well. But I’ve prepared for this fight – I’m currently the title holder and I want to go into the Christmas break being the champion.”
The news from Botswana is that Bagwasi stepped up his training programme since signing for the fight and is believed to have said he will approach the bout with caution.
“This is my biggest opportunity of my short career in professional career. I’ve been given many chances by Fox Sports Africa Boxing and I want to prove to them that I’m worthy of fighting for the title,” he said from Gaborone.
“I will approach the fight with caution. Ayanda is a tricky but tough fighter and I will have to be careful and not let myself open as I’ve done on a few occasions in my previous fights.
“I think it will be a good contest and I really feel I could nick the belt.”
Tickets for the tournament are available from all outlets of Computicket countrywide.