In an all-South African clash, Ricardo Malajika 13-2; 9 makes the second defence of his IBO junior bantamweight title against Yanga Siqibo 18-2-1; 5 at Emperors Palace near Kempton Park on Friday night.
Malajika, 25, won the vacant title on the 2nd of September 2023 when he outboxed and outthought Kevin Luis Munoz 16-1 to win by wide margins of 120-108, 118-110 and 117-111. In his first defence, he also beat Marcel Braithwaite with wide scores of 120-108 on all three judges’ scorecards.
The talented 30-year-old Siqibo is coming of a good win over Janas Mathews (15-5) in September last year after losing to Kosei Tanaka (17-1) in Japan.
Siqibo is the more experienced fighter and will test the champion in a closely fought encounter, with Malajika favoured to retain the title over the long route.
On the undercard, Brandon Thysse 16-4-1; 12 and Junior Makondo 9-6-1; 7 meet in a clash for the South African junior middleweight title.
This will be Thysse’s third crack at trying to win a South African title, and he goes into the fight as the favourite.
South Africa’s Chris Thompson 13-6-1; 7 meets the 39-year-old Alexandra Dru 21-5; 8 from Romania over eight rounds at bridgerweight.
Juan Alberts, Dean Promnick and Keanu Koopman will also feature on the undercard.
The tournament is promoted by Golden Gloves Promotions and starts at 7pm.