By Ronnie Nathanielsz
South Africa's Mzonke Fana who battles Marco Antonio Barrera in a mandatory WBC super featherweight title fight on April 9 in El Paso, Texas had to take a hurried flight to Los Angeles for a major press conference on Saturday to be staged by Golden Boy Promotions.
South Africa's "Promoter of the Year" in 2003 Branco Malenkovic informed Viva Sports/Manila Standard that the trip was sprung on him at twenty four hours notice but he welcomed the opportunity to be showcased before the fanatical Latino and American boxing public.
Fana and Malenkovic will be special guests at ringside when WBC world middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins defends his title against top contender Howard Eastman. Fana, who won a WBC eliminator with a controversial split decision over the Philippines and Oriental and Pacific super featherweight champion Randy Suico last May said he was "forever grateful to WBC president Jose Sulaiman and his son Mauricio for backing our charge and paving the way for this championship fight to take place."
There were many who thought that Barrera wouldn't honor the mandatory challenge since the eliminator was fought when Erik Morales was champion and Barrera beat Morales last November. But the WBC proved, according to a statement from Malenkovic, that it is an organization of immense integrity.
Malenkovic disclosed that Fana and he would head into the heart of the Latin American boxing community in El Paso on Sunday after a second round of TV interviews and photo shoots in Los Angeles.
