Maphupha is ready to clinch the flyweight title

Paul Masindi, the trainer of Limpopo’s flyweight boxing champion, Rofhiwa Maphupha, has vowed that his talented boxer will beat the KwaZulu-Natal flyweight boxing champion, Fanele Mhlungu, when the two boxers meet in an interprovincial championship fight at the Escort Hall in KwaZulu-Natal on 30 March.

Speaking after training at the Nzhelele Boxing Club gym on Tuesday morning, Masindi said, “We have been working very hard for the past six weeks for this fight, and the boy is ready to win. We want to improve our ranking profile and challenge for the national title before the end of this year.”

Maphupha took the provincial championship belt when he beat Jansen Mudzanani on points at the Thohoyandou Town Hall. He then went on to defend the title with a first-round knockout against the same Mudzanani at Meropa Casino Hall.

Masindi said he had started the Nzhelele boxing club some years ago when he had realised that a lot of boxing talent could be found in the Nzhelele area. “Our youngsters used to go to Thohoyandou or Polokwane to join boxing, but now I am training them here at home. I have three professional boxers and eight amateur boxers in the gym, and I hope to train more boxers in the future,” he added.

Sport - Date: 16 March 2024

Victor Mukwevho

Victor Mukwevho Ne-vumbani joined the Mirror during it's inception in 1990. He joined the SABC newsroom in 1995, and was known by  listeners as "A u fhedzisela ari". He was a news editor for The Tembisan Newspaper from 2007 to 2015. He rejoined the Limpopo Mirror newspaper in June 2022 as a freelance journalist.

Email: [email protected]