It’s not a long way from Emperors Palace to what Ricardo Malajika calls “the dirty south”, but the IBO champion’s current standing is a world away from the life he once knew.
Growing up with six brothers, five of whom boxed, served as the ideal training ground for a youngster surrounded by squalor and daily hardship in Johannesburg’s hard-scrabble southern suburbs. Nothing came easy, so he learned to scrap for every morsel, every opportunity.
“We’d bliksem each other proper,” he says of growing up among a band of brothers who knew how to use their fists.
Happily, those days are long behind him. He’s more than a survivor, he’s a champion – the only one among his family – who ranks among South Africa’s most entertaining talents.
“If it wasn’t for boxing, I’d have been a gangster,” he admits, fondly remembering his early visits to the gym, located at a neighbourhood church.
Even while putting the work as an amateur boxer, he tried his hand as a fitter and turner. But with bills to pay and a young baby, the R750 per week just didn’t cut it.
He had enjoyed a superb amateur career, winning six SA titles and beating all but 12 of 68 opponents, but in 2018 he opted to turn professional under the tutelage of Anton Gilmore on a bill promoted by Jeff Ellis, boxing’s most busy man about town.
“Uncle Jeff has always been there for me,” he says fondly. Indeed, all but one of Malajika’s fights has taken place at Emperors Palace and Ellis has been involved in every one.
Malajika won his first seven fights and looked very much on his way. But then he lost two of his next three narrowly on points, the first of them after switching trainers to Vusi Mtolo.
The defeats might have diminished a lesser fighter, but Malajika dusted himself off and vowed to do better. “The two losses hurt,” he admits. “But they never took me to ground. They taught me to learn . . . it wasn’t the end of the road.”
Three fights later, he was back in the mix. In probably the best bout of his career, he outpointed useful Kevin Luis Munoz of Argentina to claim the IBO’s super-flyweight belt last September.
Having climbed the mountain, Malajika has every intention of staying there. He’s been matched tough in his next defence, against England’s Marcel Braithwaite, but is satisfied that he and new trainer Manny Fernandes will produce the goods when it matters most,
“He’s taking me to another level,” says the South African. “Braithwaite . . . it’s a nice fight. I’m just gonna outbox him; he’s very open.”
Looking beyond Braithwaite, Malajika recognises that there is intense competition even on his own doorstep. Phumelele Cafu may be the best of them, but there’s also Sikho Nqothole (who had his number in 2022) and Yanga Sigqibo, each of whom could give him an earnest test.
Not that Malajika is cowed by the possibility. “I believe I’m better than all of them. I’ll answer the call if that’s what the fans want.”
But first things first. Beating Braithwaite is the first order of business.
