Embattled East London promoter Teris Ntutu of Rumble Africa Promotions has assured that his boxing tournament will still go ahead despite the court battle he is currently embroiled in.
Ntutu was arrested by the Hawks for several corruption charges and appeared in the Butterworth Magistrate’s Court where he was granted bail for further appearances. His arrest plunged his tournament which was scheduled for tomorrow in doubt with some insiders predicting it would be cancelled.
This even affected Boxing SA-Eastern Cape manager Phakamile Jacobs as he could not conduct the customary premedical of the tournament on Tuesday.
But yesterday, the premedical was eventually held at the Gompo Arts Centre where all the boxers were given a clean bill of health.
Ntutu revealed he has since postponed the event from Friday to Sunday to give himself more time to work on the logistics. “I want to assure boxing lovers that the tournament is taking place on Sunday,” he said yesterday
He said the court issue was being handled by his legal team so that he could fully commit to organizing the tournament.
“I do not want to comment about that other stuff involving courts and all because my legal team is handling it. I am only focused on organizing the best tournament as it is the norm when Rumble Africa Promotions host boxing shows.”
The main bout will see the return of boxing golden boy Azinga Fuzile when he defends his SA featherweight crown against Limpopo’s Sydney Maluleka.
Fuzile, who is aptly nicknamed “Golden Boy” will engage in his seventh pro bout having already captured the SA and WBC youth belts in only his sixth outing. He was in action this past December when he knocked out Georgian Giorgi Gotchoshvili in one round.
“We are committed to taking Azinga to the boxing summit and we want to do that by keeping him active to maximize his marketability,” Ntutu added.
Already Fuzile is an overnight sensation with those who witnessed his dethronement of Mdantsane hero Macbute Sinyabi last September vowing never to miss his fights again. The 20-year-old Grade 12 pupil is fresh from being awarded the Prospect of the Year accolade this past January.
Fuzile should be favored to beat Maluleka even though he is a novice compared to his opponent’s 24 fights experience. But the Limpopo-born boxer has already lost to Sinyabi even though he has since rebounded to win his last two bouts.
Fuzile will have an opportunity to win his third title as the IBF Africa belt will also be on the line. That will be unprecedented for a youngster of just seven bouts and it will likely push his marketability sky-high.
The other tantalizing clash will see talented Siphosethu Mvula also vying for the IBF regional belt against Innocent Mantengu from KZN while Fuzile’s stablemate at Million Dollar club Aphiwe Masengwana will risk his provincial featherweight belt against Khanyile Bhulane. There’s six other bouts on the card.
–MESULI ZIFO
