Deon Potgieter
boxing
At first glance one might feel that Saturday’s boxing extravaganza at Carnival City, featuring a fistic contest between South Africa and Australia, is unfairly weighted in the favour of the local lads.
On nearer inspection, however, don’t be surprised if one or even two of the three world title belts on offer find their way on a plane down under.
While much of the fanfare on the night will be around the ever-popular Baby Jake Matlala’s third attempt at becoming the first South African to win four world titles, the fireworks will more than likely be supplied by the other contests on the bill.
Matlala will be facing Australia’s national flyweight champion Todd Makelin for the vacant World Boxing Union (WBU) junior flyweight world title.
On paper this bout is a complete mismatch, Makelin comes in with a record of 10 wins, six losses, as opposed to Matlala’s 50 wins, 12 losses and two draws. Given the superior level of competition Matlala has been in the ring with, it’s unlikely that Makelin could pose any sort of threat to the mini-dynamo.
Matlala has beaten the likes of Michael Carbajal, a fighter who at the time was rated as the best “junior flyweight” of all time by the authori-tative Ring magazine.
Some say at 39 Matlala may be too old to still deliver the goods. They forget, however, that a legend will always beat a fighter of average ability, irrespective of the age difference.
While Makelin will be bringing his heart to the ring and is sure to deliver a gutsy performance, this looks to be a shoe-in for Matlala to finally and deservedly get his name in the history books as our first four-time world champion.
For the rough and tough stuff, one need look no further than the WBU cruiserweight world title bout between Sabastian Rothman and Adam Watt.
This will be Rothman’s third defence of the title he won in Wales by stopping Robert Norten in 1999. He battled in his last outing, however, against Kelly Oliver and came within the skin of a dog’s tooth of losing the fight.
Fortunately for him he managed to stop the resilient Briton in an all-action bout. “I wasn’t happy with my performance against Oliver,” says Rothman. “I want to show everybody what I’m capable of in this bout.”
Watt, a former world kickboxing champion, has scored 14 wins with 14 knockouts and three losses (all by way of KO). It’s safe to assume this bout won’t be going the distance.
Rothman has been in the trenches a number of times and certainly has more guts than the next 10 fighters put together; he has, however, already taken far too many punches in his short career of 11 wins, one loss and two draws. In against a big banger like Watt, that could count against him. After all, a man can take only so many big blows. “I’ve been working on my defence,” says Rothman “I mean this is the first time I’ll be stepping into the ring, without a black eye from sparring.”
Rothman will have to keep his guard up against Watt. If he gets careless he could be waving his title goodbye.
Ironically, the fight that could deliver a huge upset features South Africa’s boxer of the year and the man unanimously picked as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the land, Lehlo “Hands of Stone” Ledwaba.
He defends his International Boxing Federation junior featherweight world title against Arnel Barotillo.
The two have met before, with Ledwaba winning a 10-round points decision. In that bout, Barotillo tagged Ledwaba in the eighth round and the South African had to reach deep to survive the round and subsequently the fight. “We have some unfinished business,” says Barotillo. “The referee saved Ledwaba the last time we met. This time it’ll be different.”
So serious is Barotillo in his drive to dethrone Ledwaba that he has been in the country for over a month, to ensure that he is well acclimatised. “There’s no excuses this time round, I’m fit, I’m ready, I’m here to win.”
A perhaps over-confident Ledwaba says: “Barotillo is a hard puncher, but I’m ready for him. I’ve been working on my punching power and all I can say is that he must watch out, he’s in for a beating!”
Barotillo does possess that certain something you find in most world champions, a particular class quality.
On a normal day there isn’t another junior featherweight in the world who could touch Ledwaba. When it comes to a world title fight, however, it’s not always a normal day.
A bout which is attracting more attention and interest among the media and fight fans than the three world title bouts is the local “grudge” match between two-time world title challenger Jan “Toekomsrus Slayer” Bergman and national welterweight champion Joseph Makaringe.
The two have sparred together in the past, with Makaringe showing Bergman up a little. “This is not sparring this time,” says Bergman. “This is the real thing and Makaringe will be seeing the real Bergman.”
Makaringe, a hot prospect for international honours, has little or no respect for Bergman and intends showing him the canvas come fight night. Bergman, a class fighter, who has only stumbled against top-class opposition like Kostya Tszyu and Zab Judah, in world title bouts, is looking at this fight to reestablish his world title ambitions. He boasts an impressive record of 37 wins, three losses with 28 knockouts.
Some critics are looking to write Bergman off if he loses. That’s somewhat premature as a loss would not end his career. The result of this one will depend on how much Bergman wants it and if his heart is still in it. If it isn’t, he’ll be stopped. “I think Bergman will have too much experience for Makaringe,” says former three-time world champion Dingaan Thobela, “but either way, it’s going to be a great fight.”