Joyi rejects ‘spent force’ talk

The quest for former pound for pound star Nkosinathi Joyi to return to the boxing summit seems to be taking a longer winding road than anticipated.

Since getting knocked out by perennial journeyman Rey Loreto of Philippines in the first round of their IBO junior-flyweight title rematch in March, Joyi’s determination to re-climb the boxing ladder is happening at a slow pace.

Having been floored by the Filipino journeyman twice, the first when he shocked him with a fourth round knockout to win the IBO junior-flyweight crown, Joyi is still arguing he is far from finished and he wants to return to the big stage.

“People keep questioning my ability yet they forget that I only lost to one boxer,” he defiantly said.

“Just test me against other boxers before you make up your mind about my future.”

Joyi is only 32 years old but his lifestyle has rapidly eroded his attributes that made him a formidable fighter in the mini-flyweight when he held the IBF crown.

He was then rated as the best in the world in his division until he was shocked by unheralded Mexican Mario Rodriguez via a seventh-round stoppage.

Although the loss robbed him of his IBF crown, it was taken with a pinch of salt as there were reports that he simply quit due to fatigue than actually got beaten cleanly.

A split decision loss to Hekkie Budler in a fight whose outcome invoked debate about the real winner did little to knock his stature.

This even convinced Budler’s promoter Rodney Berman to take him under his wing and manoeuvred him into another world title shot with Loreto who came to the fight with 13 losses viewed as a springboard to bigger fights.

Now Joyi is fighting a lone battle telling everyone who cares to listen that he is far from finished.

A fifth-round stoppage over Sinethemba Magibisile in September last year did little to convince detractors that he still has a bite left as he ate far too many punches from the light punching southpaw.

Now trained by former Boxing SA boss Loyiso Mtya and managed by the land’s best boxing manager Mla Tengimfene, Joyi should have returned to the ring earlier against a better opponent than Luyanda Nkwankwa, who he will face at the Orient Theatre tomorrow.

For his part he has been pleading his case issuing challenges against the likes of Simpiwe Konkco and Budler in the mini-flyweight division, which he claims is his natural weight.

But while Tengimfene has done a tremendous job for his other clients, Joyi remains a tough sell to promoters who no longer see him as an investment.

For instance Andile Sidinile, under his Sijuta Promotion Joyi will fight in, Nkwankwa does not want to sign him up as yet.

“I am giving him a fight because Mla asked me to,” Sidinile replied bluntly when asked why he is not taking the once seemingly invincible boxer under his wing.

“I do not think Joyi is the same boxer he was before, but I am willing to give him opportunities to prove me wrong,” he said.

Sidinile, who has potential opponents in his stable such as Konkco, Siphamandla Baleni, Siyabonga Siyo etc, also took a gamble when he featured Joyi against Magibisela in his tournament last September.

While Nkwankwa, whose patchy fight record is deceptive, would not even be good enough to carry Joyi’s training bag before, he now has more than a chance to hold his own.

Unless Joyi proves everyone wrong that rumours of heavy drinking are just that.