The much-anticipated showdown between Duncan Village’s Siyabulela Hem and Khaya Busakwe will continue as planned next Saturday, with Busakwe’s SA lightweight title at stake.
The two will face off at the Selborne Tennis Courts in KuGompo City in a fight which was initially shrouded in uncertainty when Boxing SA flagged it for not meeting the requirements for a title bout.
The regulatory body’s sanctioning committee said the fight could only be sanctioned as a title clash if Busakwe obtained a step-aside letter from the mandatory challenger, Hlumelo Gingxana, of Braelyn.
Gingxana’s manager, Lonki Witbooi had written to BSA expressing his willingness to allow the fight to continue provided that the winner defended the title against his boxer.
“Considering that Hlumelo Gingxana is the mandatory challenger and the champion [Busakwe] was due for a mandatory defence, I formally request that the winner between Busakwe and Hem defend the title against mandatory contender Gingxana,” he wrote.
However, newly appointed acting sanctioning committee chair Droeks Malan continued to demand a step-aside letter from the Gingxana camp to give the fight the green light.
Xaba Promotions, which is staging the tournament and handling Hem, said this week that the last obstacle had now been cleared to proceed with the bout as a title clash.
“Both sides have all agreed, and all is well,” XP boss Ayanda Matiti said, declining to reveal the specifics of the agreement.
Hem is making an audacious three-division leap to challenge for the lightweight title without ever having competing in the division.
His status as the SA junior featherweight champion was expected to take precedence over a mandatory contender, in accordance with amended championship regulations.
Ironically, Hem was embroiled in a similar situation when he wanted to use his champion status to challenge Lindelani Sibisi for the SA featherweight title in February.
BSA was caught in the crossfire when its chief operations officer, Mandla Ntlanganiso, endorsed the challenge of then mandatory contender Bongani Fule, while the sanctioning committee gave Hem first preference.
BSA later took the matter to arbitration. The abitrator ruled in Fule’s favour, a decision which was later viewed as a blessing in disguise after Hem was a shadow of himself in his upset stoppage loss to the unheralded Ardy Katompa in his featherweight debut in April.
Despite Hem’s quantum leap in weight class, Matiti is backing him against natural lightweight campaigner Busakwe, insisting the division would suit him.
“In hindsight, this is the best decision we could have made for Hem, and I am getting rave reviews of his training sessions from his trainers,” he said.
The fight will serve as a double-header, also featuring Asanda Gingqi, who is defending his SA junior lightweight title against Katlego Khanyisa.
Daily Dispatch