Deon Potgieter
For the first time a feast of five world title fights will be held in a local arena, as a fitting farewell tribute to the man featured in the main event, Baby Jake Matlala.
While fans may wish to see South African fighters wrapping up the night five for five, it’s not going to be that easy. There are a number of formidable opponents among the imports, not the least being Juan Herrera, the fighter given the honour of being the last to face Matlala. Herrera went 12 rounds against the legendary Ratanapol Sor Vorapin for the mini-flyweight crown in 1997. While there was some concern about the MatlalaHerrera fight being changed from a 10-round non-title fight to a 12-round title defence of Matlala’s World Boxing Union (WBU) junior-flyweight crown, the little big man is not concerned. “It motivates me to try even harder,” says Matlala, eager to leave the ring on a high note.
In a main supporting bout, Sebastian Rothman makes the sixth defence of his WBU cruiserweight world title against British slugger Garry Delaney.
Phillip Ndou makes his first appearance in the ring since his bout with Cassius Baloyi in November last year. He defends his WBU junior-lightweight crown against Russian import Nikolaai Emereev. Look for Ndou to revert to his former style of waiting for that one big punch to end it all.
One of the toughest and what will probably be the most closely contested fight of the night will be Silence Mabuza’s challenge for the International Boxing Organisation (IVO) bantamweight world title. He faces Colombian southpaw Jose Sanjuanelo.
The fifth title fight is Stephan Carr’s IBO junior-welterweight world title challenge against Argentinian Pablo Sarmiento.