Trainer pulls no punches over Siyo

Counter-accusations have flared up in the camp of recently vanquished Duncan Village boxer Siyabonga Siyo following his failure to lift the IBO mini-flyweight title from Simpiwe Konkco at the weekend.

Siyo suffered his first professional defeat in 11 bouts when he was beaten on a unanimous points decision by Konkco in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The nimble-footed boxer never put up a sustained offensive and was instead content to eat several right hands en route to losing on scores of 116-112 twice and 118-110.

Siyo’s uncle and long-time trainer Ben Mtyaliselo blamed the defeat on poor preparations by the new technical team put together by the boxer’s promoter Andile Sidinile.

Mtyaliselo was stripped of his training duties with his son Luzuko Siyo and Siyabonga after Luzuko’s knockout defeat by Japanese Yohei Tobe two months ago.

Former IBO world champion Mhikiza Myekeni, Miniyakhe Sityatha and veteran trainer Boy Boy Mpulampula took over from Mtyaliselo.

While Mtyaliselo was still present at the corner at the weekend, he hardly said a word.

And after the fight disappointment was etched on his face.

He says Siyo was barred from training at his Sinako gymnasium in Gompo for the fight.

“By missing out on training at my gym, Siyabonga hardly participated in a sparring sessions,” he said.

The boxer was training at Mdantsane Fitness Joint before the gymnasium was closed down forcing him to shift to Downtown gym situated at the old Daily Dispatch building. He also had sessions at a fitness gym in Beacon Bay in the mornings.

Mtyaliselo says when he once went to watch Siyabonga training at Downtown he found him working on mitts.

“All he did was to be made to work on mitts without any sparring sessions,” he says.

Aware that the matter was getting out of hand, Mtyaliselo took three youngsters from his gym to the gym to assist Siyo with sparring.

“Firstly I was sent from pillar to post being forced to travel to Mdantsane only to be told that the training venue has been changed to Downtown. When I got there I was told that the training session had already been concluded.”

But he relented because Siyabonga’s boxing style is based on numerous sparring sessions.

“I know Siyabonga likes to spar because it sharpens his reflexes.”

But Sidinile denied that Siyo was not adequately prepared for the fight insisting that the boxer was physically fit.

“I think the defeat can be attributed to psychological preparations because Siyabonga respected Konkco too much,” he said.

Refusing to be drawn into the debacle, Sidinile instead congratulated Konkco for the win while also concluding Siyo’s defeat was not the end of the world.

Before the fight Siyo commanded lofty rankings with the WBA owing to the association’s international title he held.

Sidinile confirmed that with the defeat by Konkco, Siyo has also forfeited his WBA International crown.

Mtyaliselo stopped short from blaming Myekeni’s training methods for his nephew’s loss.

“Siyabonga was hit by a right hand throughout the fight and nobody in his corner did anything about it. Instead one of his trainers acted like he was the one fighting as he kept shouting useless instructions to him.”