BOXING SA has entered the contractual saga involving Duncan Village boxer Simpiwe Vetyeka and SA-born Australian boxer turned manager Lovemore Ndou.
The standoff is causing division in the South African camp in Australia where Vetyeka will face Indonesian Chris John in a WBA-IBO featherweight title unification bout at Metro City in Perth on Friday.
Vetyeka is embroiled in an ugly contractual spat with Ndou who claims the boxer signed a two-year deal with him in 2011.
Ndou claims the contract was automatically extended by a further two years after Vetyeka won the IBO title by beating another Indonesian, Daud Yordan, in Jakarta in April.
Vetyeka is disputing these claims saying he never signed the contract Ndou sent him via an e-mail.
Ndou, a former world champion turned lawyer, also claims Vetyeka owes him an undisclosed sum of money.
He had set a 2pm Monday deadline for Dragonfire Promotions which will stage the fight to pay him a compensation fee of $20000 (about R185000) failing which he would interdict the fight.
However, no word has come through on whether Ndou has enforced the threat after Dragonfire Promotions hired well-known SA- born Australia-based lawyer Phillip Silver to handle the matter.
Silver is famous as the lawyer who is representing Johannesburg promoter Branco Milenkovic in his court case against BSA surrounding the broadcast rights saga.
Yesterday, BSA sent a letter to Dragonfire Promotions clearing Vetyeka of any binding contract with Ndou.
BSA acting chief executive Loyiso Mtya said the body recognises contracts signed between a boxer and a manager in the presence of a BSA official and therefore Ndou’s claims were baseless, according to the body.
“We have maintained ignorance of the socalled contract reportedly signed between Mr Simpiwe Vetyeka and Mr Lovemore Ndou and we refuse to recognise it as it was never signed in front of a BSA official according to the BSA standard procedure and its terms and conditions,” said Mtya.
“To date this contract has never been lodged with our office.”
In the midst of that, Vetyeka’s estranged trainer Nick Durandt who is also in Australia with Aliwal North-born Johannesburg-based Sipho Taliwe who will challenge Yordan for the IBO lightweight crown on the undercard of John-Vetyeka bout, has entered the fray.
Durandt, who also claims to have been owed money by Vetyeka, allegedly approached the fighter’s promoter-manager Andile Sidinile and demanded he be paid his money.
“I told him he can demand his money from Vetyeka after the fight and he was not happy with that,” Sidinile said from Australia.
Sidinile and Durandt have been embroiled in an ugly spat over Vetyeka’s decision to dump the maned Johannesburg trainer to team up with former world champion Vuyani Bungu and Boy Boy Mpulampula.
Durandt reportedly refused to give Vetyeka his IBO belt until the boxer had repaid him his money.
Sidinile on the other hand accused Durandt of tying Vetyeka to a slave contract to fight John for only $20 000 when the fight is worth much more as it is a unification clash involving a boxing legend in John who will be vying for the record 19th defences of his WBA featherweight crown.
And the tiff between Sidinile and Durandt deepened in Australia when Durandt did not even greet the Vetyeka camp on his arrival on Monday.
Durandt has also been reportedly spending time with John’s camp allegedly giving them tips on how to beat Vetyeka.
Attempts to get Durandt’s comment proved fruitless.
Despite all the hullabaloo, Sidinile said the Duncan Village boxer was brimming with confidence ahead of Friday’s fight.
Top brass steps in as row hots up
The standoff is causing division in the South African camp in Australia where Vetyeka will face Indonesian Chris John in a WBA-IBO featherweight title unification bout at Metro City in Perth on Friday.
Vetyeka is embroiled in an ugly contractual spat with Ndou who claims the boxer signed a two-year deal with him in 2011.
Ndou claims the contract was automatically extended by a further two years after Vetyeka won the IBO title by beating another Indonesian, Daud Yordan, in Jakarta in April.
Vetyeka is disputing these claims saying he never signed the contract Ndou sent him via an e-mail.
Ndou, a former world champion turned lawyer, also claims Vetyeka owes him an undisclosed sum of money.
He had set a 2pm Monday deadline for Dragonfire Promotions which will stage the fight to pay him a compensation fee of $20000 (about R185000) failing which he would interdict the fight.
However, no word has come through on whether Ndou has enforced the threat after Dragonfire Promotions hired well-known SA- born Australia-based lawyer Phillip Silver to handle the matter.
Silver is famous as the lawyer who is representing Johannesburg promoter Branco Milenkovic in his court case against BSA surrounding the broadcast rights saga.
Yesterday, BSA sent a letter to Dragonfire Promotions clearing Vetyeka of any binding contract with Ndou.
BSA acting chief executive Loyiso Mtya said the body recognises contracts signed between a boxer and a manager in the presence of a BSA official and therefore Ndou’s claims were baseless, according to the body.
“We have maintained ignorance of the socalled contract reportedly signed between Mr Simpiwe Vetyeka and Mr Lovemore Ndou and we refuse to recognise it as it was never signed in front of a BSA official according to the BSA standard procedure and its terms and conditions,” said Mtya.
“To date this contract has never been lodged with our office.”
In the midst of that, Vetyeka’s estranged trainer Nick Durandt who is also in Australia with Aliwal North-born Johannesburg-based Sipho Taliwe who will challenge Yordan for the IBO lightweight crown on the undercard of John-Vetyeka bout, has entered the fray.
Durandt, who also claims to have been owed money by Vetyeka, allegedly approached the fighter’s promoter-manager Andile Sidinile and demanded he be paid his money.
“I told him he can demand his money from Vetyeka after the fight and he was not happy with that,” Sidinile said from Australia.
Sidinile and Durandt have been embroiled in an ugly spat over Vetyeka’s decision to dump the maned Johannesburg trainer to team up with former world champion Vuyani Bungu and Boy Boy Mpulampula.
Durandt reportedly refused to give Vetyeka his IBO belt until the boxer had repaid him his money.
Sidinile on the other hand accused Durandt of tying Vetyeka to a slave contract to fight John for only $20 000 when the fight is worth much more as it is a unification clash involving a boxing legend in John who will be vying for the record 19th defences of his WBA featherweight crown.
And the tiff between Sidinile and Durandt deepened in Australia when Durandt did not even greet the Vetyeka camp on his arrival on Monday.
Durandt has also been reportedly spending time with John’s camp allegedly giving them tips on how to beat Vetyeka.
Attempts to get Durandt’s comment proved fruitless.
Despite all the hullabaloo, Sidinile said the Duncan Village boxer was brimming with confidence ahead of Friday’s fight.
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