Nkosinathi Joyi returns on 10/8 in Takayama rematch

By Mesuli Zifo

One of South Africa’s boxing crowd-pullers Nkosinathi Joyi will finally be back in the ring on October 8 when he takes Japanese challenger Katsunari Takayama in his IBF mini-flyweight title defence at Orient Theatre in East London, South Africa.

The clash will be a return bout between the two after their January farce held at Carnival City in Brakpan, SA, that ended before it even started when Takayama suffered a cut due to an accidental head-butt, prompting referee Deon Dwarte to call off proceedings in the third round on the advice of a ringside doctor.

Because the fight had not gone past four rounds, the official outcome was announced as no contest and the IBF resolved to keep Takayama (24-4, 10 Kos) as a mandatory challenger while Joyi was given a leeway to engage in an optional defence which he did not exercise.

At the time of the stoppage Joyi, unbeaten in 22 bouts with 15 stoppages, was beginning to find his rhythm and appeared to be on course to dominate the ring-bouncing Japanese challenger.

The premature ending of the fight left spectators with a sour taste with even Dwarte partly admitting that on hindsight he should have allowed the bout to continue beyond the fourth round after which a fighter ahead on points would have been awarded a technical decision.

When Joyi’s optional defence elapsed he was ordered by the IBF to face Takayama again failing which the promotional rights of the fight were to be contested by purse bids.

However Joyi’s promoter Branco  Milenkovic revealed that he reached a deal with Takayama to bring him back to outh Africa for the return match.

“He is aware that he will not only come back to the country but will fight Joyi in his own backyard in East London,” he said.

Fighting Joyi in his own backyard where he commands a legion of followers who fill up the venue every time he fights, will be a mammoth task for Takayama especially as he did not offer anything to suggest that he could topple the southpaw champion in their first fight.

Joyi is rated as the best fighter in the world in the mini-flyweight division and Milenkovic has already planned his path after taking care of Takayama.

“First things first then we will make major announcements about Joyi’s future,” he said.