Deon Potgieter BOXING Realising early on in his career the importance of having an image in boxing, Charles Mailula opted to wear a cowboy hat when entering and leaving the ring. Is it merely a coincidence or perhaps an omen that when he challenges for the World Boxing Union junior featherweight world title this Saturday, it will be in cowboy country? Mailula will be entering the ring in San Antonio, Texas, against a very formidable foe in Carlos Contreras. Contreras hails in true western style from south of the border. He’s a Mexican who’s posted 10 knockouts in 14 wins. Mailula has never fought outside the borders of South Africa and he’s never tested his skills against any boxer other than his countrymen. Contreras defeated the highly regarded Carlos Navaro in December last year and is definitely in a different league than the fighters Mailula’s been up against in the past. Seven of Mailula’s past eight bouts have ended in four rounds or fewer and he’s scored nine knockouts overall in 14 wins with three losses and two draws. These two powerful punchers were originally meant to have faced each other on May 5, but the bout was postponed and rescheduled for July 8. It was again postponed due to Mailula having visa problems in getting into the United States. It’s third time lucky, but for whom? If Mailula can upset the odds and win, he will be the fourth successive junior featherweight from South Africa to win a world title, following in the footsteps of Welcome Ncita, Vuyani Bungu and Lehlo Ledwaba.
In Phoenix, Arizona, on the same night another South African fighter will be entering the ring as an underdog in one of the most definitive bouts of his career.
Former International Boxing Federation (IBF) lightweight world champion Philip Holiday will be up against one of the hottest young guns in boxing today, Hector Comacho jnr (son of the former champion of the same name). Holiday, now fighting at junior welterweight, needs to win this bout if he’s to be considered a contender in the eyes of the big three sanctioning bodies; IBF, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council. In other boxing this weekend South Africa’s World Boxing Federation heavyweight world champion Mike Bernardo faces Australian Justin Fortune in Japan in a non-title bout. Fortune’s claim to fame is a fourth-round knockout by Lennox Lewis in 1995. The Bernardo team are hoping to lure Mike Tyson to Japan for a bout, as both fighters enjoy popularity there – Bernardo for his kick-boxing feats. It may draw the crowds in Japan but, realistically, who else in the world would want to watch such a fight? Bernardo owns a title that has no credibility and has fought nobody of significance. On the other hand, after the past two ludicrous mismatches Tyson has featured in, perhaps a bout with Bernardo in Japan, with nobody watching, would be a fitting way to end the Tyson circus.