Jubatha and Tom will finally put their hostilities in the ring

By Mesuli Zifo

THE last time Sabelo Jubatha and Simpiwe Tom were supposed to fight negotiations between their camps got so bad that the promoters ended up fighting in court chambers.

Jubatha, then the SA featherweight champion, was pressured by the more influential Mzi Mnguni who promotes Tom to defend his crown against his charge even though he was not happy with the terms of the fight.

Instead of inviting purse bids to determine the promotional rights of the fight when the two parties could not agree terms, Boxing SA commission stripped Jubatha of his title, opening the way for Tom to contest the vacant crown against Matima Molefe.

This move left Jubatha, a former inmate who spent close to ten years in prison for armed robbery, so devastated that he even made serious threats to Tom whom he accused of wanting his title without fighting for it.

However Tom would be brutally knocked out in two rounds by Molefe in May in a strong candidate for the Knockout of the Year, reminiscent of Paul Williams’ face first crashing knockout by Sergio Martinez.

Molefe would, however later test positive for a banned substance, stripped of the title and slapped with a two year ban, giving Jubatha an opportunity to regain his title.

Inexplicably Tom was given another chance to contest for the title even though he had not redeemed himself from the brutal knockout he suffered in his last fight.

On Friday, the raging war between Jubatha and Tom will finally come to an end when they clash for the vacant title in a highly charged showdown at Orient Theatre in East London.

Besides the genuine hatred between the two fighters, their camps are also not the best of buddies with their rivalry having produced a ring fatality when Samora Msophi from the Jubatha camp died in 2008 after suffering head injuries following his SA junior flyweight title clash against Mfundo Gwayana who came from the Mnguni camp.

Jubatha, who suffered his single loss in 13 bouts with nine stoppages, from Molefe, early in his career has not fought since October 2010 but he will be expected to be firing from all cylinders on Friday in a fight that will likely not see the distance.

And the deep animosity Jubatha harbours against Tom might just produce another ring tragedy.

“This boy orchestrated for my title to be taken away from me because he did not want to fight me in the ring,” Jubatha said.

“I went through hell trying to make sense of why I was treated like that and at one stage I even contemplated to quit boxing but I knew if I did that I could be tempted to do other things and end up going back to jail.”

Whether Tom (10-1, 7 Kos) has fully recovered from the devastating knockout he suffered from Molefe is yet to be seen but his trainer Jaji Sibali, a two time IBF junior bantamweight title challenger (who was stopped in nine rounds by Julio Cesar Borboa in 1994 and in six rounds by Danny Romero in 1997) said his charge is ready for the fight.

“We are lucky to be fighting for the SA title again and this time we will not let this opportunity slip through our fingers,” Sibali said, his words lacking some confidence trainers often display ahead of a crucial fight.

The tournament promoted by Mnguni under his Eyethu Promotions banner, will also see the rematch between Macbute Sinyabi and Thabo Sonjica for the SA junior featherweight title.

Why Sinyabi (20-1, 20 KOs) who easily knocked out Sonjica in less than a round in April is forced to give him a rematch with threats that he could even be stripped if he did not,  is confusing especially as Sonjica (14-1, 10 KOs) beat only one rated fighter after his loss to Sinyabi.