By CHRIS TOTOBELA
Makhanda is once again the home of a boxing title.
Mzoxolo ‘Black tiger’ Ndwayana, well-known to his fans as Bokoloshe, overcame East London-based Odwa Gaxa in the Welterweight Championship bout on the weekend.
Eastern Cape champion Odwa Gaxa came to this fight with a record of nine contests, five wins and four losses, while the experienced Ndwayana came with 28 fights, 20 wins, six losses and two draws.
Gaxa struggled to make the required weight limit at the weigh-in and had to run to make the needed weight. Ndwayana started the fight well, boxing behind the jab, following up with a straight right. Ndwayana caught Gaxa with some excellent one-twos in the first two rounds.
In the third round, they stood toe to toe as Gaxa decided to fight back and got the Nangoza Jebe Hall crowd in Gqeberha on their feet.
Ndwayana caught Gaxa with an effective low body shot – the referee gave an eight count, but the bell saved Gaxa.
Coming into the next round, Gaxa still seemed shaken, and Ndwayana took full advantage and stopped him from becoming the new champion again.
Speaking to Grocott’s Mail, father and trainer Bulelani Ndwayana could not hide his excitement.
“We went to this fight with a good plan, and it worked. We knew that it was always going to be difficult for the opponent to go the distance with us, and we planned to box him until he got tired. We caught him at the right moment.”
The black tiger dedicated his title to all the people of Makhanda and thanked all those who travelled to Gqeberha to support him. He also thanked DSRAC for assisting his camp with transport. There are plans in the pipeline to get him back into the ring before the end of the year. The information will be made known to the public once everything is finalised.
Ndwayana has made local boxing fans proud and will continue to do so for as long as his legs carry him. His camp also appealed to the business sector to come on board and assist them.
