Nontshinga wants interim bout before world title shot
Sive Nontshinga’s trainer is not in a rush for his charge to challenge for a world title even though he has qualified for it.
The East London boxer beat Filipino Christian Araneta in Gqeberha a fortnight ago to qualify for a shot at IBF juniorflyweight champion Felix Alvarado.
Not only was Nontshinga forced to go the distance for the first time, but he got dropped hard in the last round, sparking debate as to whether he was ready for a world title shot.
The bout was the 10th for the 22-year-old Chicken Farm boxer, fuelling belief that he needed more seasoning before he could face the best in the world.
And his trainer and father Thembeni Gopheni agrees that his son needs at least one more bout before going after Alvarado.
“I would love to get one more bout before going to the world title shot to see how Sive will react,” he said.
“I want to see how he will react after being dropped for the first time in his career.
“A knock-down can change a boxer and make him gun-shy, so it is imperative that we know what damage that knock-down did to him.”
Gopheni said his charge would return to training over the next two weeks while awaiting the correspondence from the IBF about the enforcement of his mandatory position.
Alvarado is expected to be allowed to engage in a voluntary title defence as his last bout was a mandatory defence.
This was when he beat SAborn, US-based boxer Deejay Kriel by a 10th round stoppage in January.
And with the delay presented by Covid-19, Nontshinga’s mandatory challenge is expected to take time to be enforced.
“An interim bout will sharpen our skills,” Gopheni said.
However taking an interim bout when a boxer has already qualified for a mandatory spot is risky as a loss will cause him to forfeit that spot.
“We are aware of that risk, hence we want a ‘soft’ opponent to test ourselves and see how we react.”