Defeat has Makazole’s career sitting in limbo

Once again Makazole Tete is looking for excuses for his stunning first round knockout defeat by unheralded Filipino Jonas Sultan last month.

The defeat, his second in 19 bouts with two draws, has now brought his future in the ring into sharp focus and has hampered plans of steering him towards an IBF world title challenge that was in motion for this July.

Defending the IBF regional title, Tete was knocked out by Sultan in brutal fashion which has raised questions about whether he can successfully make a comeback to the ring.

Tete’s defeat capped an unconvincing run since he parted ways with manager Mla Tengimfene who still manages his brother Zolani.

After an indifferent run under Dowie Mzini’s tutelage, Tete was expected to regain the form that made him an explosive fighter who won the PBL divisional category.

A self-confessed gym antagonist, Tete’s dip in form has been blamed on a lack of commitment possessed by his sibling.

Now his promoter, Ayanda Matiti, who has stuck with him through thick and thin, has revealed that the boxer will be moved up to the bantamweight division.

“I think Makazole is struggling to make the junior bantamweight division so we will be looking to move him up in weight,” he said.

This sounds all too familiar as the weight struggle was blamed when Tete started to unravel in the flyweight division.

But a move up to the junior bantamweight where Matiti astutely managed to get him a world title shot at the vacant IBO title did not yield dividends as Tete capitulated against Gideon Buthelezi.

The boxer would later blame muti use for his defeat, drawing sharp criticism from the boxing fraternity.

But this time Matiti admitted that the latest move could be the last straw to save the career of the talented yet lazy boxer.

“If he does not regain his form we will have no choice but to look at other options,” said Matiti, whose Xaba Promotions and Events is playing multi roles for the boxer, including being a financial adviser.

There is no denying Tete’s talent, which some critics even believe surpasses that of his sibling.

This was confirmed by his knockout victory over Filipino Raymond Tabugon in six rounds in July last year.

After his loss to Tete, Tabugon went the distance with highly touted former unified world champion Juan Francisco Estrada, who is still seen as a boxer who can give pound for pound star Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez a run for his money.

Matiti had planned to convince the IBF to give Tete a shot to headline his annual tournament celebrating the birthday of the late struggle icon Nelson Mandela in July.

Now he has to find another boxer to carry the event after Tete’s defeat.