Tete to inject Doctor with some pain

Talented Mdantsane boxer Makazole Tete will engage in the most important fight of his career when he has a rematch against Free Stater Doctor Ntsele at the Mangaung Indoor Centre this evening.

Tete will be trying to resuscitate his floundering career after his stunning knockout defeat by unheralded Filipino Jonas Sultan, in the process losing his IBF international junior-bantamweight crown at Mdantsane Indoor this past December.

Entering that fight as a favourite with his world title path already prepared, Tete was surprisingly caught cold by the Filipino’s right hand which rendered him semi-conscious prompting the fight to be called off.

Since beating Makazole, Sultan has become an overnight sensation in his own country where he is being hailed as a next world champion.

It was the second defeat for the Mdantsane boxer, who ironically leaves a clean life despite his lack of commitment to his craft.

The defeat proved to be the most damning one as it came after other less impressive performances.

Tete had meekly surrendered to Gideon Buthelezi with the IBO title at stake, in a fight he was also favoured to win.

There were even reports that he would need to first go for a brain scan before being allowed back into the ring.

The loss hit him so hard that he had to seek professional help to deal with it.

Now all those efforts will be put to the test to see if he has indeed recovered psychologically and physically from the setback.

“Mayzo is good now but the real fight for him will be to put that setback behind him by winning his next bout,” said Makazole’s younger brother Zolani Tete.

Zolani is also busy preparing for his WBO world bantamweight title eliminator against Filipino Arthur Villanueva – scheduled to be held at Leicester Arena in the UK on April 22.

While both siblings face mammoth tasks, it is Makazole whose career will likely be finished if he loses to Ntsele.

This even though he easily beat the Free Stater when they clashed three years ago for the WBA Pan African flyweight belt.

But since then his career has regressed due to a number of factors even though his talent is still intact.

Backed by his loyal promoter Xaba Promotions and Events, Makazole will have to finally do his own share of the work if he really wants to make a name for himself in the game and come out of the shadow of his brother.

XPE boss Ayanda Matiti has admitted that it will be hard to bring Makazole back if he loses to Ntsele.

“This fight is crucial for Makazole but we have the utmost faith in him that he will come through.”

There were even plans to move Makazole up to the bantamweight division as he was reportedly struggling to make the junior-bantamweight but his handlers have decided to let him continue in the lower division.

Ntsele is coming off a loss to Buthelezi in the same tournament that saw Makazole getting knocked out by Sultan.