TAPELO Potwana might be lying on a hospital bed after his knockout defeat by Mzolisi Yoyo but he is earning rave reviews for his spirited bid to win the SA junior-welterweight title at East London’s Orient Theatre at the weekend.
Potwana was knocked out in the seventh round of a fight he was leading on points despite coming in as an unknown quantity with a patchy fight record.
Starting on shaky footing as Yoyo appeared to be on course to end the fight in the very first round, Potwana bounced back to rock the champion with an assortment of blows and continued with the onslaught until the dramatic end in the seventh round.
The 23-year-old was rushed to Frere Hospital where he is still receiving medical attention but is said to be in stable condition.
Potwana’s mentor Mzi Mnguni said the lanky fighter was fine after he had had a chat with him yesterday .
“I called him and applauded him for the performance he put forth in the fight,” said Mnguni.
Before the fight Mnguni warned Yoyo that he would be in for a tough fight against the unknown challenger who came into the bout with four losses and a draw in 11 fights.
However few expected Yoyo, who was vying for the fourth defence of the title and had only lost four times in 31 fights, to struggle that much against the free-swinging challenger he voluntary chose to defend against.
While he breathed a sigh of relief after scoring the right-left fight-ending combo to put Potwana down and out, Yoyo conceded that the challenger’s awkward style and reach advantage gave him fits during the fight.
“He had a funny style and his height made it difficult for me to nail him with a clean punch,” Yoyo said after the fight.
“But I decided to be patient and time him as he lunged in.”
Mnguni said Potwana might have paid a heavy price for his bravery which landed him in hospital but his boxing career has risen a notch up.
“He came to the fight an unknown quantity but after the fight everybody knows him and I can assure you if Yoyo were to be asked to fight him again he would want no part of him,” said Mnguni.
Mnguni, the country’s premier mentor of world champions, is renowned for his uncanny ability to pluck fighters from obscurity and turn them into champions, even world conquerors.
In 1997 he took an unknown Zolani Petelo to Thailand where he dethroned that country’s legendary fighter Ratanapol Sor Vorapin for the IBF mini-flyweight title and subsequently made five defence of the title.
Other fighters he resurrected include perceived has-been Tamsanqa Sogcwe whom he steered into an SA mini-flyweight triumphant in 1992.
Asked if he considered Potwana a future champion, Mnguni said the fact that the lanky fighter was just 23 years meant his future was bright.
Defeated Potwana’s brave bid is all the talk
Potwana was knocked out in the seventh round of a fight he was leading on points despite coming in as an unknown quantity with a patchy fight record.
Starting on shaky footing as Yoyo appeared to be on course to end the fight in the very first round, Potwana bounced back to rock the champion with an assortment of blows and continued with the onslaught until the dramatic end in the seventh round.
The 23-year-old was rushed to Frere Hospital where he is still receiving medical attention but is said to be in stable condition.
Potwana’s mentor Mzi Mnguni said the lanky fighter was fine after he had had a chat with him yesterday .
“I called him and applauded him for the performance he put forth in the fight,” said Mnguni.
Before the fight Mnguni warned Yoyo that he would be in for a tough fight against the unknown challenger who came into the bout with four losses and a draw in 11 fights.
However few expected Yoyo, who was vying for the fourth defence of the title and had only lost four times in 31 fights, to struggle that much against the free-swinging challenger he voluntary chose to defend against.
While he breathed a sigh of relief after scoring the right-left fight-ending combo to put Potwana down and out, Yoyo conceded that the challenger’s awkward style and reach advantage gave him fits during the fight.
“He had a funny style and his height made it difficult for me to nail him with a clean punch,” Yoyo said after the fight.
“But I decided to be patient and time him as he lunged in.”
Mnguni said Potwana might have paid a heavy price for his bravery which landed him in hospital but his boxing career has risen a notch up.
“He came to the fight an unknown quantity but after the fight everybody knows him and I can assure you if Yoyo were to be asked to fight him again he would want no part of him,” said Mnguni.
Mnguni, the country’s premier mentor of world champions, is renowned for his uncanny ability to pluck fighters from obscurity and turn them into champions, even world conquerors.
In 1997 he took an unknown Zolani Petelo to Thailand where he dethroned that country’s legendary fighter Ratanapol Sor Vorapin for the IBF mini-flyweight title and subsequently made five defence of the title.
Other fighters he resurrected include perceived has-been Tamsanqa Sogcwe whom he steered into an SA mini-flyweight triumphant in 1992.
Asked if he considered Potwana a future champion, Mnguni said the fact that the lanky fighter was just 23 years meant his future was bright.
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