TALENTED Mzansi boxers, Lusanda “Schoolboy” Komanisi and Mzuvukile “Old Bones” Magwaca, may have been stripped of their titles but their manager, Mlandeli “Mla” Tengimfene, believes his charges will rise again.
Cape Town born and East London based Magwaca and Komanisi, who hails from Mdantsane, signed three-year deals with US promoter Greg Cohen with the hope of propelling their boxing careers to greater heights. However, their deals with the US company have proved all that glitters is not gold, as Cohen Promotions has yet to deliver a fight.
The duo have even been stripped of their titles due to inactivity.
Komanisi lost his International Boxing Organisation (IBO) World title without having thrown a punch, while Komanisi gave up his World Boxing Association International crown.
Cohen apparently keeps postponing their fights, leaving his new recruits disappointed time and again. But despite the damage Tengimfene is confident his charges will bounce back.
Komanisi was initially scheduled to face American Eric Hunter in his US debut last November. The fight was postponed to this month – but no confirmation has been given by the American promoter that the fight is definitely on. Komanisi last fought in October 2015 when he retained his IBO crown with a fifth round knockout of Filipino Roli Gasca. He had laboured against Gasca to record an under-whelming points win almost a year earlier.
“It is unfortunate that they will have to start all over again, walking the same path, but they will be champions again. That will show that winning those titles were not a fluke,” Tengimfene said.
The Boxing South Africa 2016 Manager of the Year nominee says boxers often believe the grass is greener on the other side, only to find out it is not. “Instead of getting international exposure they lost titles.”
Tengimfene said they planned to either renegotiate a new contract or terminate the existing one with the US promoters. “We thought signing with them would give the boys exposure on the international stage, but the partnership hasn’t yielded any results. Our contract has a clause that states that we can renegotiate or terminate it if the promoter does not give us a fight within 120 days of signing,” he explained.
