Mabuza's Career in Doubt, Withdraws From Nongqayi Bout

By Mesuli Zifo

A week ago former world bantamweight title contender Silence Mabuza was on quest to reclaim his place among the best fighters in the division with a scheduled crossroads clash against fellow South African Simpiwe Nongqayi at Carnival City, Johannesburg, SA next Saturday.

Now Mabuza is not only off the fight but his boxing career hangs in the balance after an eye specialist floored his plans to go ahead with the assignment.

“Mabuza was advised by an eye specialist to withdraw from the fight and his future right now is uncertain,” confirmed the fighter’s promoter Branco Milenkovic.

“Obviously we are disappointed by the turn of events especially with the uncertainty hanging over Mabuza’s future.”

To say the news is gob-smacking is an understatement as Mabuza was not only considered the best bantamweight in his country but an argument could be made that he was among the best in the world.

The mere look at his fight record, which spots three losses, with only Rafael Marquez and Yohnny Perez the only two men to have beaten him in slugfests from which Mabuza emerged with his reputation intact, confirms his mettle.

Mabuza engaged in two action-packed clashes with Marquez when the Mexican was not only reigning supreme in the bantamweight class but was occupying a lofty spot in the mythical pound for pound ratings.

Marquez then went on to engage in three classic bouts against Israel Vasquez beating his compatriot in their first WBC junior featherweight title showdown before Izzy rallied back to win the second and third clashes which all scooped Fight of the Years honors. Their fourth fight won by Marquez via a third round stoppage, paled in significance.

With Marquez having gone from the bantamweight, Mabuza was left to assume dominance in the division and appeared to be on course to do just that as he dominated the then unbeaten Perez (18-0, 13 KOs) round after round until the Colombian produced a last gasp stoppage victory just seconds before the final bell.

While Mabuza’s fists were venomous to his opponents, his facial skin tissue including the area around his eyes could not cope with stinging punches thrown at him.

For instance his first clash against Marquez was stopped in four rounds on cuts when Mabuza’s face was busted up badly.

His face and eyes were also marked up badly after his loss to Perez and the damage appeared to be deeper than anticipated as he needed an 18-month break to undergo several surgeries to fix the problem.

He returned last October to test waters as he easily stopped overmatched Lwazi Mzolisa in three rounds but nothing could be deduced from the bout as it ended early.

His clash against Nongqayi, a former IBF junior bantamweight champion, was expected to give an indication regarding his readiness to return to the top of the bantamweight division.

“I don’t even want to think what this news mean, in fact I am still in denial,” Mabuza reluctantly said.

“I am still trying to come to terms with all this so please I can’t say more at the moment.”

Milenkovic could not say if further medical tests will be carried out to determine Mabuza’s boxing future.

However at 33 years old, time might just be against him and investing more time and money on getting him medical help to resume his boxing career might not be worth it. Time will tell.