Top 10 made their mark in history
AIR S THIN AT THE TOP
JEFFREY Mathebula joins an elite band of South African boxers when he takes on Nonito Donaire in Los Angeles on July 7.
Mathebula, the IBF juniorfeatherweight champion, will be one of only a handful of local pugs to have engaged in such superfights.
His Filipino opponent, who holds the WBO belt, is ranked pound-for-pound No 4 four boxer in the world by The Ring magazine.
Here are our top-10 megafights involving South African boxers.
Phillip Ndou vs Floyd Mayweather
(Lost TKO 7; November 1, 2003)
What bad luck for Ndou to get his big chance against the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter.
No South African boxer has surely faced such a daunting task.
Vic Toweel vs Manuel Ortiz
(won PTS 15; May 31, 1950)
Ortiz (33) had been champ for eight years when he came to Johannesburg to defend his bantamweight crown against Toweel.
He had a record of 95 wins, 21 losses and three draws, while novice Toweel (22), was unbeaten in 13 fights.
Sugarboy Malinga vs Roy Jones Junior
(Lost KO 6; August 14, 1993)
Prior to this bout, the only non-title fight on our list, Jones had just beaten Bernard Hopkins for the middleweight title, and his star was still to burn a lot brighter.
But though Malinga was a great defensive fighter and a heavier boxer, he had no answer to Jones.
Corrie Sanders vs Wladimir Klitschko
(Won TKO 2; March 8, 2003)
Klitschko was considered the heir apparent to the great Lennox Lewis so Sanders’ win was a great achievement especially as Klitschko is back at the top again.
Baby Jake Matlala vs Michael Carbajal
(Won TKO 9; July 18, 1997)
Though Carbajal was considered one of the very best junior-flyweights, the diminutive South African won on cuts and retired him for nearly two years. But Carbajal came back to beat Jorge Arce and capture another world title.
Vuyani Bungu vs Naseem Hamed
(Lost TKO 4; March 11, 2000)
Bungu had made 13 successful defences of his IBF junior-featherweight title when he moved up a division to take on the “Prince”.
But Hamed lived up to his billing and blew away an overawed Bungu.
Brian Mitchell vs Tony Lopez
(Draw; March 15, 1991)
The fight was a draw but Mitchell was robbed
– he vacated his WBA belt and challenged Lopez for the IBF crown six months later and won.
Unfortunately for Mitchell, politics prevented him from facing Azumah Nelson, the WBC champ regarded as the world’s best junior lightweight boxers at the time.
Lehlohonolo Ledwaba vs Manny Pacquiao
(Lost KO 2001)
Pacquiao made short work of Ledwaba and two years later the Filipino entered superstardom when he stopped Marco Antonio Barrera.
6; June
23,
Pierre Fourie vs Bob Foster
(Lost pts 15; August 21, 1973)
Just going the distance in their first outing in Albuquerque was an achievement for Fourie, considering Foster had stopped 10 of his previous 11 challengers. Fourie s
’ promoter, Maurice Toweel, helped convince the apartheid government to allow a white-versus-black fight in Johannesburg so he could stage the rematch. That bout, in December 1973, was the precursor to the end of racial segregation in South African box
ing.
Sugarboy Malinga vs Nigel Benn
(Won PTS 12; March 2, 1996)
Benn, since winning the WBC title in Italy in 1992, had never again ventured outside Britain. Malinga went there and outpointed him in front of his home crowd to become the first South African boxer to win a WBC belt.