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Boxers - Men
of courage! Some of the most
memorable fights watched over
the years often involve the
lesser known fighters battling
on the undercards of the big
names in boxing.
These fights
feature boxers who put
everything on the line, take
their bodies to higher levels,
throw punches from the first
second to the last and entertain
the paying public so much so
that the public just can’t wait
to see the fighters back in
action sooner rather than later.
Some of these
boxers may remain journeymen
forever, but a handful will
climb the ladder and reach the
top.
One of the
most memorable fights I have
watched over the past few years
involved Thembani Mbangatha, our
WBF African featherweight
champion who defends his title
this weekend at the Wynberg
Military Camp in Cape Town.
What made the
fight so memorable was not only
seeing a potential future star
in the making, not only seeing
two fighters going toe-to-toe in
a massively entertaining brawl,
but was to see Mbangatha, a
police detective when not
boxing, dislocating his shoulder
a few rounds from the end.
With his hand
hanging helplessly by his side,
and the obvious pain he was in,
most of the fans believed he
would certainly quit and rush
off to the hospital. With the
WBF title on the line,
Mbangatha, nicknamed “Baby Jake”
after the late South African
superstar and world champion
“Baby Jake” Jacob Matlala, would
have none of it.
At the end of
the round, when asked by his
corner if he wanted to quit, he
replied “That belt is mine!” –
and boxed the next round
one-handed! The shoulder was
then popped back in at the end
of the next round and Thembani
went on to become a champion.
This weekend
he faces his toughest test ever
against Doctor Ntsele, the
former South Africa and WBF
Intercontinental champion, a man
with vast experience. Thembani
is up against it this weekend
and another exciting and tough
fight awaits.
Thembani will
need to be at his best and the
courage that this young man
oozes will need to be in the
ring this weekend. Looking
forward to see the two
gladiators in action, and
hopefully another memorable
fight awaits us.
Until next time,
keep punching.
Howard Goldberg
PRESIDENT: World Boxing
Federation
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