IBF mini-flyweight champion Nkosinathi “Mabere”Joyi will be compensated for the 14months of inactivity by having his purse doubled when he defends his crown against mandatory challenger Katsunari Takayama at Orient Theatre in East London on Friday.
Joyi has not tasted action since January 29 when his first bout against Takayama was declared a no contest following an accidental clash of heads that left a cut on the Japanese challenger.
The long inactivity robbed him of an opportunity to earn a living but the financial plight he went through will be wiped clean after his promoter Branco Milenkovic and one of the tournament sponsors Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board decided to come up with financial strategy to compensate him.
Joyi was set to earn around R150 000 for the fight in line with the rules of the purse bids won by Milenkovic with a $26 000 pledge in New Jersey, US on December 6.
The rules of the bids entitle the champion to 75 per cent of the amount while the challenger gets 25.
Milenkovic confirmed that Joyi could not be paid more than the percentage of the purse bids as the rules needed to be strictly respected.
“But we decided to come up with a financial plan to ensure that Joyi is richly compensated for the time he has not been in action,” Milenkovic said.
While Milenkovic steadfastly refused to divulge the figure of the compensation, sources close to the situation revealed that Joyi’s payment will more than double his purse bid money.
Meanwhile Takayama, who sneaked in East London on Tuesday night, has dropped his complaint to the IBF about the selection of the officials of the fight.
The Japanese camp had initially objected to the selection of officials- especially the presence of local judge Sylvia Mokaila in the judging panel- on the grounds that they will likely favour the champion.
Three of the officials including fight supervisor Lindsey Tucker, the referee Larry Doggette and one judge Shafeeq Rashada will come from US while the third judge Marcos McDonnell will come from UK.
Milenkovic also announced that there are only 200 tickets left, available at Computickets.