Has Simpiwe Vetyeka and his promoter Andile Sidinile smoked the peace pipe after the well publicised fallout when the latter even announced that they had severed ties?
This question came up in boxing circles especially after Sidinile risked Vetyeka’s high ratings in the WBA by matching him against the Japanese boxer Tyuyoshi Tameda who, at 22 years old, is Vetyeka’s junior by 13 years.
The fight will headline Sidinile’s tournament at the Orient Theatre this evening.
Boxing Mecca sat down with him to find out what is really happening.
BOXING MECCA: You told us that you and Vetyeka were history but here you are giving him a fight in your tournament.
ANDILE SIDINILE: We sat down and ironed out our differences and decided to let bygones be bygones.
BM: What are those bygones you are referring to?
AS: No man I do not want to go back to that, suffice to say we are fine again. Please let us not do this when Vetyeka has such a crucial fight in a few hours time.
BM: OK I will let this question go because I do not want you guys to blame me when Vetyeka loses tonight.
AS: Is he going to lose? Please, do not cast a bad spell on him....
BM: But Andile, you are the one who secured such a dangerous opponent for him, not me. And that has fuelled perceptions that you are doing this in order to get rid of him.
AS: That is nonsensical. Look, it is crucial that Vetyeka is kept active because as you know he is in a deep division where activity is crucial.
BM: My point is you could have secured a much less formidable foe for him just to maintain his third spot and then watch the developments.
AS: Look, we can argue until the cows come about this but I think one of us will be vindicated after the fight.
BM: Now I see that Abner Mares, who is rated lower than Vetyeka, is fighting Jesus Cuellar for the WBA regular title even though his last fight was a loss. How do you guys feel about this?
AS: We are pretty upset about this because we do not know how the WBA is allowing it to happen. I mean it makes a joke of their ratings if a boxer rated lower gets a world title opportunity when he lost his last fight in the very same world body’s title challenge.
BM: Being a engaging boxer I am sure Vetyeka has demanded answers about this from you.
AS: He has and I could not give him a convincing answer because I also do not understand this. These are some of the challenges we face when we are required to explain inexplicable decisions to our boxers. It puts us in a bad light and impugn our role as managers and promoters to these boxers.
BM: I understand that Mares is a voluntary challenger and the fact that he is advised by Al Haymon has obviously played a role here. Which brings me to the next point because Vetyeka is also supposedly advised by Haymon.
AS: That is a debate for another day. But for now I want to fulfil my duties as a promoter by keeping Vetyeka active in anticipation of a big fight.
BM: Did you at least enquire from the WBA how Mares was approved despite his last fight being a loss?
AS: You know when you are at this stage and level you must be careful because with one false move you can find yourself out in the cold. Furthermore, Vetyeka is not the only boxer being disadvantaged here. Remember top-rated Zambrano (Carlos) and Hosono (Satoshi), who is rated second, have also been bypassed, so what I am saying here is that we as his management must do our job and leave everything else to the sanctioning body.
BM: Why did you decide to return to the Orient Theatre after you staged your last big tournament at Selborne Tennis court?
AS: There were huge logistical challenges at Selborne Park. Now we have hired heavy security personnel to deal with the potential crowd violence and I want to emphasise that those without tickets will not be allowed to come nearer to the venue. Tickets are only sold at Computickets and people will be required to show them a good 10 metres from the entrance. Also I want to warn people that the tournament will start at 6pm but we will only cross over to live television at 8pm, meaning the Joyi fight and others will not be shown on television.
Conspiracy theories for V12 bout is clobbered
This question came up in boxing circles especially after Sidinile risked Vetyeka’s high ratings in the WBA by matching him against the Japanese boxer Tyuyoshi Tameda who, at 22 years old, is Vetyeka’s junior by 13 years.
The fight will headline Sidinile’s tournament at the Orient Theatre this evening.
Boxing Mecca sat down with him to find out what is really happening.
BOXING MECCA: You told us that you and Vetyeka were history but here you are giving him a fight in your tournament.
ANDILE SIDINILE: We sat down and ironed out our differences and decided to let bygones be bygones.
BM: What are those bygones you are referring to?
AS: No man I do not want to go back to that, suffice to say we are fine again. Please let us not do this when Vetyeka has such a crucial fight in a few hours time.
BM: OK I will let this question go because I do not want you guys to blame me when Vetyeka loses tonight.
AS: Is he going to lose? Please, do not cast a bad spell on him....
BM: But Andile, you are the one who secured such a dangerous opponent for him, not me. And that has fuelled perceptions that you are doing this in order to get rid of him.
AS: That is nonsensical. Look, it is crucial that Vetyeka is kept active because as you know he is in a deep division where activity is crucial.
BM: My point is you could have secured a much less formidable foe for him just to maintain his third spot and then watch the developments.
AS: Look, we can argue until the cows come about this but I think one of us will be vindicated after the fight.
BM: Now I see that Abner Mares, who is rated lower than Vetyeka, is fighting Jesus Cuellar for the WBA regular title even though his last fight was a loss. How do you guys feel about this?
AS: We are pretty upset about this because we do not know how the WBA is allowing it to happen. I mean it makes a joke of their ratings if a boxer rated lower gets a world title opportunity when he lost his last fight in the very same world body’s title challenge.
BM: Being a engaging boxer I am sure Vetyeka has demanded answers about this from you.
AS: He has and I could not give him a convincing answer because I also do not understand this. These are some of the challenges we face when we are required to explain inexplicable decisions to our boxers. It puts us in a bad light and impugn our role as managers and promoters to these boxers.
BM: I understand that Mares is a voluntary challenger and the fact that he is advised by Al Haymon has obviously played a role here. Which brings me to the next point because Vetyeka is also supposedly advised by Haymon.
AS: That is a debate for another day. But for now I want to fulfil my duties as a promoter by keeping Vetyeka active in anticipation of a big fight.
BM: Did you at least enquire from the WBA how Mares was approved despite his last fight being a loss?
AS: You know when you are at this stage and level you must be careful because with one false move you can find yourself out in the cold. Furthermore, Vetyeka is not the only boxer being disadvantaged here. Remember top-rated Zambrano (Carlos) and Hosono (Satoshi), who is rated second, have also been bypassed, so what I am saying here is that we as his management must do our job and leave everything else to the sanctioning body.
BM: Why did you decide to return to the Orient Theatre after you staged your last big tournament at Selborne Tennis court?
AS: There were huge logistical challenges at Selborne Park. Now we have hired heavy security personnel to deal with the potential crowd violence and I want to emphasise that those without tickets will not be allowed to come nearer to the venue. Tickets are only sold at Computickets and people will be required to show them a good 10 metres from the entrance. Also I want to warn people that the tournament will start at 6pm but we will only cross over to live television at 8pm, meaning the Joyi fight and others will not be shown on television.
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