The decision by Sijuta Promotions to secure Japanese opponents for their top boxers, Simpiwe Vetyeka and Luzuko Siyo, in their bouts today may backfire badly.
Vetyeka takes on once-beaten 22-year-old Tyuyoshi Tameda in a featherweight scrap, while Siyo will battle for the WBA international junior-bantamweight crown against Yohei Tobe.
The bouts will top the Sijuta show, which will be beamed live by SuperSport at Orient Theatre.
While Vetyeka has a wealth of experience, having won three world titles, at 35 years old he might age overnight.
But it is Tobe who poses a serious danger as the 28-year-old has lost only twice in 12 bouts.
His losses were suffered against unbeaten stars Sho Ishida (16-0 at the time) and Ryo Akaho (18-0-2). But it is his victory over current WBA junior-bantamweight champion Kohei Kono, who has beaten several top boxers including Koki Kameda – one of the history-making Kameda brothers – that causes concern.
Ishida and Akaho are yet to taste a defeat and that retroactively enhances Tobe’s reputation.
Sijuta Promotion boss Andile Sidinile admitted that his boxers will have to double their efforts to emerge victorious today.
“Particularly worrying is Tobe because his record suggests that he is a dangerous boxer,” Sidinile confirmed.
“But it is better to test our boxers now than to spend our energies and money investing in them when they are not worth it. I believe they will deliver.”
Siyo, a former SA junior-flyweight champion, is yet to prove himself in the junior-bantamweight division, having fought against relatively mediocre opponents, one of which was 17-losses boxer Reginaldo Martins Carvalho.
Siyo was disappointing when he surrendered his IBO Intercontinental junior-flyweight title to Filipino Raymond Tabugon, although his weight struggle was a contributing factor.
But his two losses in 18 bouts still make him a marketable boxer and an odds-on favourite with the bookmakers to beat the Japanese opponent.
Homeboys to face real test of potency in a ring of fire
Vetyeka takes on once-beaten 22-year-old Tyuyoshi Tameda in a featherweight scrap, while Siyo will battle for the WBA international junior-bantamweight crown against Yohei Tobe.
The bouts will top the Sijuta show, which will be beamed live by SuperSport at Orient Theatre.
While Vetyeka has a wealth of experience, having won three world titles, at 35 years old he might age overnight.
But it is Tobe who poses a serious danger as the 28-year-old has lost only twice in 12 bouts.
His losses were suffered against unbeaten stars Sho Ishida (16-0 at the time) and Ryo Akaho (18-0-2). But it is his victory over current WBA junior-bantamweight champion Kohei Kono, who has beaten several top boxers including Koki Kameda – one of the history-making Kameda brothers – that causes concern.
Ishida and Akaho are yet to taste a defeat and that retroactively enhances Tobe’s reputation.
Sijuta Promotion boss Andile Sidinile admitted that his boxers will have to double their efforts to emerge victorious today.
“Particularly worrying is Tobe because his record suggests that he is a dangerous boxer,” Sidinile confirmed.
“But it is better to test our boxers now than to spend our energies and money investing in them when they are not worth it. I believe they will deliver.”
Siyo, a former SA junior-flyweight champion, is yet to prove himself in the junior-bantamweight division, having fought against relatively mediocre opponents, one of which was 17-losses boxer Reginaldo Martins Carvalho.
Siyo was disappointing when he surrendered his IBO Intercontinental junior-flyweight title to Filipino Raymond Tabugon, although his weight struggle was a contributing factor.
But his two losses in 18 bouts still make him a marketable boxer and an odds-on favourite with the bookmakers to beat the Japanese opponent.
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