If there is one certainty about the boxing tournament at Emperors Palace on Saturday night, it’s the high quality action that will be on display in the main event between IBO super flyweight champion Ricardo Malajika and top challenger Yanga Sigqibo.
Both are super slick, accomplished athletes who will be seeking to continue the South African tradition of local rivals bringing the best out of each other. SA boxing history is littered with such examples through the years, underscoring the value of looking closer to home for good matchmaking, as Golden Gloves has done.
Sigqibo’s energy levels are through the roof in anticipation of his biggest fight this weekend. He’s been in training camp since May and has analysed every aspect of Malajika’s style in a bid to come up with a winning battle plan.
According to manager Thembani Gopheni, nothing has been left to chance.
“There are no issues whatsoever. We’ve looked at many fight videos, so Malajika will hold no surprises. Yanga is on the weight and more ready than ever. I promise, he’s going to take the title.”
Like Malajika, Sigqibo was a top amateur who will draw from his extensive body of work to unpick the riddle of the champion.
Two hundred amateur fights between 2006 and 2012, including a gold medal win at the SA Games, underscore his excellence, so too a pro record that is almost blemish-free. In 2022, fighting in Kosei Tanaka’s Nagoya hometown, he dropped a narrow decision to the WBO champion. Rather than discourage him, it proved that he could hang with the very best.
“This is like a local derby,” he said excitedly. “First of all I want to show the world I’m still the old Yanga, the Showtime. I expect Malajika to come forward and fight. You can expect anything from me – I’m fit and ready. I know Malajika. He has no secrets. I’m highly rated, I know what’s at stake.”
Unsurprisingly, Sigqibo’s talent was honed in Mdantsane, the most fertile ground of boxing talent in the country. As a youngster, he simply trooped after his pals to the local gym and soon discovered he was pretty decent at boxing.
One thing led to another and before long he was engaging in amateur bouts that have finally led to this moment. His boyhood hero was Thabo Sonjica, the former IBO super bantamweight champion who he is hoping to emulate.
Fighting away from home holds no fears for Sigqibo and he helpfully points out that his two previous fights in Johannesburg both produced wins.
He says he will be fighting for his two children, a girl and a boy aged eight and four, and plans to bring another championship belt to the Eastern Cape.
He has much respect for Malajika, but at 30 he says now is his time.
Friday thus looms with the promise of an electric fight.
Showtime is about to go down.
• The action will be broadcast live on SuperSport Variety 4 from 7pm.
