Toto Helebe Headlines PBL Fight Night 3


By Sinethemba Mandyoli    22-Aug-2013 16:05 UTC+02:00

pblOn 6 September is the last round of the first three fight nights for the premier Boxing league. After lukewarm performances from both fights night 1 and 2 night 3 has got too many expectations to live up to.That is also due to the Knockout ratio of the boxers fighting on the night. Their average knockout ratio is 49 percent combined. PBL Fight night 3 will either be an early night for fans or a night of upsets for Boxers.

The venue for this promising tournament will be set at Zone 6, Diepkloof, Soweto. Far away from their own crowds Toto Helebe, LwandoMolwana, Innocent Mantengu, and Vusumuzi Tyatyeka will be battling for the coveted million rand price promised to the winner. Only MashuduChauke and Grant Fourie will be fighting on their own turf, and have the pressure of pleasing the home crowd.

The PBL is a fashioned like soccer league whereby 4 Boxers from 4 divisions square with one another for points. Each man will have 3 fights and the one that tops the log will be crowned a million rand winner. Meanwhile for each appearance a boxer pockets 60 thousand rand. At the moment the PBL leaderboard has Xolisani Ndongeni as the leader and only after fight night three will we beable to predict who will win the inaugural tournament. This night we will be witnessing two fighters that have never tasted defeat in their careers in Innocent Matengu and LwandoMolwana.

One of the fights of the night will be two first fights losers in the Lightweight division when Cape Town’s, Vusumuzi Tyatyeka will have a showdown with Grant Fourie from Gauteng. That fight promises fireworks due to the tenacity and grit they both showed in the fights they lost. Fourie lost to Ndongeni while Tyatyeka lost a controversial decision to VusumuziBokolo. My prediction for that particular fight is that Tyatyeka wins KO, round 3.

The second fight will be much more interesting as the bantam weight national champion Toto Helebe will be fighting against a relatively unknown Innocent Mantengu. Innocent Matengu will be the underdog given the amount of fights he has and the fact that he is ranked 7 in the division. The champion has shown that he does not take that particular fight lightly as he cancelled his voluntary defense for his title to focus on PBL. Many fighters in the division will be using Mantengu as a yardstick to measure their chances of winning the title.

Recently Toto Helebe who does not talk much had something to say on social networks when he said “Jonganapha nina Maxhayi, yekani ukhombana neChampion heey maan”. This he was saying to an idling Mfusi Maxhayi who cannot wait to get his shot to the title fight. Two dates have been cancelled between the two boxers due to logistical reasons. On the other side Toto Helebe will make sure that he makes Mantengu a loser for all to see what the champion is made of. In my own predictions this particular fight does not even go past round 1, and Toto Helebe will win by KO.

The third fight will feature the highly contested Featherweight division’s MashuduChauke from Gauteng and LwandoMolwana from Cape Town. Featherweight division seems to have 3 kings ruling at the same time in Mboyiya, Maluleke, and Sinyabi, however LwandoMolwana seems to be silently establishing himself moving towards the crown.

Mashudu Chauke on the other hand seems like a withering flower and is no longer the man he used to be. Currently Molwana ranks at number 4 and Mashudu Chauke ranks at number 3. This is one fight that promises to go the distance due to Chauke’s experience. That will depend on how he will take the punishment from Molwana who has 10 fights, 5 KO, and no loss. My prediction for this bout is that Lwando Molwana wins on points.

Boxing fans from all over the country are promised a live broadcast of the tournament after the 08:30 movie on E-TV. Surely sports and boxing in general will have to go a long way in order to get the television coverage that it deserves.


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