By Ronnie Nathanielsz
 
Well known promoter Branco Milenkovic says he will “definitely try to investigate” what happened when WBC International junior flyweight champion Phumzile Matyhila failed to make the weight for his scheduled title defense against Filipino Alez Aroy at the Carousel, north of Pretoria, South Africa.
 
Milenkovic revealed that Matyhila had been stripped of the title when he came in at 52.20 kg or some 115.08 pounds which was way over the 108 pound limit during the official weigh-in.
 
The distressed promoter told Viva Sports/Manila Standard Today “I never saw something like this in my life.” However, Aroy’s manager Rex “Wakee” Salud appeared equally distressed saying he couldn’t understand why Aroy was paid “only ten percent of his purse” claiming it “wasn’t fair.”
 
Milenkovic tried to get permission to go ahead with the fight but Salud turned down the offer saying “it was too risky because of the big weight difference” since Aroy himself had moved up from minimum weight to light flyweight for the title fight.
 
It was another unfortunate setback for the Filipino who had battled Zukisani Kwayiba for the WBC International mini-flyweight title but was deprived of a victory when there was a sudden power failure at the end  of the seventh round when he was beginning to turn the fight around. The officials were forced to go to the judges scorecards and Aroy lost what to many was a controversial decision.