THULANI Mbenge will take on a world-class boxer when he returns to the ring for the first time this year to show his class.
The Palace Pandemonium boxing tournament will take place on March 3 hosted by Golden Glove promotions in conjunction with Emperors Palace.
The unbeaten South African will face the highly rated Mexican, Diego Cruz in the welterweight division over ten rounds.
But in the meantime, Mbenge has been nominated for the South African Boxing Awards’ (BSAA) Male Boxer of the Year and will for a short while focus on the glamorous event taking place on February 2 in Port Elizabeth.
He will come up against stablemate, Kevin Lerena, who incidentally will also defend his title on March 3.
Lerena fights Dmytro Kucher in the cruiserweight division.
Unbeaten South African welterweight champion, Mbenge is modest about his nomination for Male Boxer of the Year.
Mbenge, who has a professional record of 12 wins with 10 of those coming via stoppages.
“I know that I have to focus on my fight first of all, but being a nominee for the BSA awards, it is an honour and for a short while I can think about that before it is back to business,” said Mbenge.
The Mdantsane-born Mbenge faces what could be termed as stiff competition for the award. The other nominees are: Zolani ‘Last Born’ Tete (reigning World Boxing Organisation (WBO) bantamweight champion), Azinga ‘Golden Boy’ Fuzile (International Boxing Federation (IBF) Continental and World Boxing Council (WBC) Youth featherweight champion) and Kevin Lerena (International Boxing Organisation (IBO) cruiserweight champion).
“I also think the fact that I have been nominated for this award means that people acknowledge and appreciate what I do whenever I enter the ring.”
This is the second time that Mbenge has been nominated for an award at the SA Boxing Awards having lost to Fuzile in the Male Prospect of the Year category last year.
Meanwhile, also on the bill for March 3 will be DJ Kriel, who will be involved in a rematch against Xolisa Magusha. Magusha, reigns as the South African minimumweight champion while Kriel is the WBC International belt holder.
Book your seats with Jeff Ellis on 078 457 3030.
For free daily local news in the south, visit our sister newspapers Alberton Record, Comaro Chronicle, Southern Courier and Get it Joburg South Magazine.
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. You can also email our offices on cvdwalt@caxton.co.za, juliem@caxton.co.za or luckyt@caxton.co.za
Add us on WhatsApp today! Comaro Chronicle: 079 427 8074 and Southern Courier: 079 404 5789.
