EL boxers carry SA flag in Poland, Pretoria

Two East London boxers are looking to punch their careers back into the big league when they engage in crucial bouts in different parts of the world on Saturday.

In Poland, Duncan Village’s Siphosethu Mvula will attempt to defy the odds when he takes on once-beaten Khazakhstani Bekman Solybayev for the vacant WBA Intercontinental junior-lightweight belt in a country which has seen very few SA boxers competing.

Mvula, 28, a former SA junior-bantamweight titlist though he never defended

it, left with his manager Andile Mshumpela this week brimming with confidence and hoping he would write his name in the history books.

According to boxing historian Andre de Vries, only a handful of SA boxers have fought in Poland, with Mvula’s homeboy Zolile Mbityi being one of them when he beat Bulgarian Dimitri Alpiev to win the IBO flyweight title in 1999.

Four others, including Gqeberha’s SA female junior lightweight champion Nozipho Bell, have also travelled to the country. Bell lost to local Polish lass Ewa Prodnicka for the WBO world title in 2018.

But Mvula is determined to return home with glory, and his possibilities of achieving the feat are not slim given Solybayev’s modest knockout ratio and the level of his opposition.

The fight will form part of the 10-bout card also featuring well-known Polish boxer Michal Cieslak, best remembered for losing to SA-based DR Congolese fighter Ilunga Makabu in the vacant WBC cruiserweight title clash in January 2020.

At the Sun Bet Arena in Pretoria a few hours later it will be the turn of Asemahle Vellem to show if he is ready for the big league when he attempts to relieve Cowin Ray of his SA super-middleweight crown.

The 21-year-old Chintsa-born boxer is unbeaten in three bouts, but his level of opposition has been questioned and it may not help him dethrone a fellow unbeaten star of Ray’s calibre.

Ray, unbeaten in eight bouts has stopped six of his victims and has already made the maiden defence of his crown.

The fight will form part of the card featuring a celebrity bout between Cassper Nyovest and Priddy Ugly.

Boxing SA Eastern Cape manager Phakamile Jacobs said he was confident both fighters would return home with glory.