Mdantsane’s Moyisi Booi is still in the dark about whether he will defend his SA title against veteran Jackson Chauke or Nkosinathi Sibiya, after Sibiya was removed from the ratings when he had already submitted his challenge.
Booi is scheduled to make a ring return at the end of the month for the maiden defence of his SA junior-bantamweight title, with organisers still in discussions with broadcaster SuperSport about the date and venue.
However, Hope Schools in Summerpride, where Xaba Promotions (XP) organised a tournament a fortnight ago, has emerged as a likely venue.
XP organised their Heritage Month celebrations tournament at the unfamiliar venue, with Duncan Village’s Siyabulela Hem knocking out Khaya Busakwe to win the SA lightweight belt, while Mdantsane’s Asanda Gingqi surrendered his junior lightweight belt to Soweto’s Katlego Khanyisa via a 10th-round stoppage.
Now Booi is next in line to risk his own SA title, but the identity of his opponent is yet to be determined after Sibiya was replaced from the mandatory spot due to inactivity by veteran Chauke, who has since jumped at the opportunity by submitting his own challenge.
XP director Linda Saliwa said the impasse would be resolved by Boxing SA, though Chauke was the more marketable option.
“Apparently Sibiya’s handlers are still challenging his removal from the ratings, arguing he already had a fight scheduled so he should not have been removed,” he said.
Boxing SA also confirmed the case was being attended to.
However, Chauke is favoured to get the nod due to his previous working relations with XP when the company promoted him during his SA flyweight title reign, with the majority of his defences taking place in KuGompo City.
Chauke subsequently relinquished the SA title after winning the IBO flyweight belt by beating Afghanistan-born Englishman Quaise Khademi in 2024.
He surrendered the IBO crown to Ricardo Malajika, who came down from the junior- bantamweight to dethrone him, only to vacate the belt and return to his natural weight class.
Malajika won the WBC junior-bantamweight title by beating Tomoya Tsuboi in Japan a fortnight ago, becoming only the third boxer to hold the coveted green and gold belt.
After back-to-back losses to Malajika and Ndabezinhle Phiri, Chauke returned to winning ways by beating another former IBO title-holder in Gideon Buthelezi to vault to the mandatory spot for Booi’s title.
Booi has not fought since his lucky draw against Argentine David Nunez in an IBF Intercontinental title clash at the Orient Theatre in April, when Nunez threatened to lodge a protest with the IBF due to the discrepancy in the tallying of the scorecards.
