A much anticipated PBL fight night V will see two Bantamweights battling it out for the top spot in their division in the Premier Boxing League. The card will take place on Saturday, 02 August 2014 in Port Elizabeth’s Boardwalk casino. Toto Helebe will face Thabo Sishwane in a much anticipated bout for the past two years. That Bout will not only determine who wins the Bantamweight division in PBL but also who heads the pack in the Bantamweight division in South Africa as a whole.
At some point Thabo Sishwane, whom is a WBA Pan African Bantamweight champion, even challenged Toto Helebe for a unification of both the continental and national titles. Whether that was just verbiage it will be proven on the 2nd of August. Helebe is the busiest of both fighters as he has already fought twice this year while Sishwane’s last fight was in December 2013. Ring rust is something that Sishwane will have to worry about and it may cost him a lot.
Toto Helebe will be fighting for the second time under the guidance of his new coach, who signed him from his former coach Teach Madubela. Mr Madubela has since been relegated to a role of assistant coach in Helebe’s corner. We are however yet to see any technical changes on Helebe’s game plan as he only lasted 2 minutes 36 seconds in his last fight against Thabo Sonjica last month. That particular loss raised more questions than answers as many people were questioning the idea of changing coaches and relocating to Johannesburg in preparation for his maiden IBO world title challenge. That particular fight was also his first fight in the international stage, his first fight in the Super Bantamweight division. This time around Helebe will be fighting in his Bantamweight division and will be fighting against his perfect match.
Helebe will have to dig deep in his pocket to not only win against another Thabo but to also restore the dignity he lost to the Sonjica. If he does that he will not only receive respect from Thabo Sonjica and the fans but each and every Bantamweight in the country will fear him. And a defeat from Thabo Sishwane will mean that his Bantamweight title is under threat and defending it after 2 back to back losses will not be a good motivation for him. The Toto Helebe that fought against Mathyila, Ngema, and Mboyane will have to show up this weekend or else Cape Town will have borrowed time on the National Bantamweight title.
Both pugilists are perfectly matched with Helebe, having 18 Fights 14 Wins and lost 4. On the other hand Sishwane has 21 fights, 14 Wins and lost 5. The KO percentage ratio of Both Boxers is below 50 percent which leaves the possibility of the fight going to the judges as a huge option. Helebe is at 39 Percent while Sishwane is at 24 Percent.
The other fights of the evening will be (Lightweight) VusumziBokolo v Fourie, (Flyweight) MzwabantuDabaza v Mfundo Gwayana, and (Featherweight) Aphiwe Mboyiya v Oscar Chauke.
