Trust boxing man about town Jeff Ellis to come up with this nugget.
He revealed to Golden Gloves that Ntuthuko Memela, who fights Thulani Mbenge at Emperors Palace on February 4, is the nephew of popular former SA light-heavyweight champion Fraser Memela.
Fraser campaigned in the 1970s and captured the infamous “non-white” heavyweight belt in 1971. Now aged 69, he was a popular campaigner throughout Durban, in particular, boxing in such varied places as Currie’s Fountain, Kwa Mashu, Westridge Tennis Stadium and Kingsmead.
He also mixed with the best of the time, trading shots with a young Jimmy Abbott, Mike Schutte and Robbie Williams.
“Ntuthuko comes from a real fighting family and from what I saw of him when he boxed Sean Ness, he can fight. He drew with Sean over six rounds in Soweto, pushing him all the way. He also went on to stop Phillip Ndou, so he’s not a guy to take lightly. This will be a measure of just how good Thulani is.”
