Girl, 10, packs a wallop

While most young girls her age are still obsessed with playing with their cute little dolls, 10-year-old  Yanga Matyeni is already plotting how to dominate South Africa’s female boxing scene once she grows up.Since last year, “Roundy” as the Mthatha youngster is affectionately known in Ngangelizwe Township, spends   two to three hours between Mondays and Fridays learning the art of punching and ducking blows from opponents at Khulani Boxing Club.

She is not only among  only five female boxers at the Ngangelizwe-based Club, but is also their youngest member to date.

“I want to one day become a South African boxing champion,” said the Mkhathini Senior Primary  School Grade 5 pupil. “But it’s not just about the title, I want to be like Floyd Mayweather .

“I want to be the most dominant boxer in South African female boxing circles.”

The youngster’s interest started last year after seeing her older brother, Vuyisa, going to the boxing club a  stone’s throw from their Ngangelizwe home.

Vuyisa said: “She kept on asking if she could come with me to gym and one day I said she could.”

Now he believes his sister is  destined for stardom.

“You can’t believe how good she is ... she’s the best. She will definitely become a champion,” he said. as he watched her being put through her paces by their trainer Mthetho Dumezweni.

The youngster says she felt at home as soon as she stepped into the gym last year. “I love working up a sweat and boxing,” she said. “ I don’t have time to be playing with dolls.”

She has not yet officially stepped into the ring with an opponent;  she first wanted to make sure she was ready, she explained.

Dumezweni described Yanga as a younger version of South Africa’s first-ever female world boxing champion Noni Tenge, and predicted that Roundy would be ready to start fighting  in the amateur ranks by next year. “She is headed for the top and whoever gets in her way will feel her wrath.”

He said he was hoping to unleash the talented youngster as early as January.

“She is  definitely going to be a big thing in boxing, I am telling you,” he bragged.

Even her more accomplished gymmates like former South African lightweight national champion Viwe “Red Machine” Mdletyeni  brag about her. “She’s the real deal,” he said.