Pleas for Mdantsane’s new world champion Kuse to be suitably housed

The Buffalo City metro has promised to engage the private sector to assist newly crowned WBC champion Siyakholwa Kuse, who lives in informal settlements in NU8 Mdantsane, to get a house.

This was said by the metro’s human settlements political head Sakhumzi Caga at City Hall on Saturday during Kuse’s welcoming home ceremony.

He became the first Eastern Cape boxer to win a WBC belt when beating Filipino Melvin Jerusalem in Johannesburg last weekend.

It was in response to a plea made by Boxing SA provincial manager Phakamile Jacobs.

During the gathering, Jacobs said that despite Kuse being an SA champion and now making international headlines, he still lived in the squatter camps of “Ngidi” with his siblings and parents.

The Dispatch visited the two-room settlement.

Siyakholwa Kuse survived a flash knockdown in the 11th round to take the World Boxing Council minimumweight crown from a bloodied Melvin Jerusalem at Emperors Palace on Saturday night. The three judges had the South African winning by unanimous decision, with scores of 116-111, 116-112 and even 115-112 by the Filipino judge. Kuse, who had lost his first shot against Jerusalem on points in Manila last year, stamped his control on the fight in the seventh round by outboxing and outpunching his opponent. The first six rounds were a fistic chess match, with the two fighters trading single punches, with not too many combinations to speak of. Jerusalem, whose left eye was cut early in the third round from a clash of heads, had started on the back foot, trying to catch the challenger on the back foot. But when he turned aggressor in the second half of the fight, Kuse became the counterpuncher, and that’s when he looked brilliant. He pawed Jerusalem’s cut with his right jab, ensuring the blood kept flowing to leave Jerusalem’s face a mask of red at times. Kuse went down briefly in the penultimate round, more from being caught off balance than having his senses scrambled, and he rose quickly, picking up from where he had left off and securing himself an early birthday present — he turns 27 on Tuesday. The victory improved Kuse’s record to 10 wins, three losses and a draw, and it made him South Africa’s fourth WBC world titleholder after Sugar Boy Malinga, Dingaan Thobela and Kevin Lerena, holder of the bridgerweight crown. This is the first time South Africa has two WBC champions simultaneously. Johannesburg-based Kuse is the first boxer from Mdantsane, East London, to win a WBC belt. Jerusalem dropped to 25-4. Youngest SA champion On the undercard, 21-year-old Tyla Promnick became the youngest South African women’s professional boxing champion as she beat Thobela Nyanda on points to take the South African mini-flyweight belt. The southpaw challenger pressed the action in the first round, but after taking a couple of shots on the counter, she stayed on the outside for most of the second round before pressing again with better effect in the third. Promnick displayed good head movement, slipping blows and displaying patience before attacking. She started the fourth round charging across the ring at her opponent, and in the fifth she applied pressure, delivering more punishment than she received. By the seventh the champion was showing signs of fatigue, her mouthguard protruding and throwing lunging jabs. Nyanda found a second wind and pushed in the eighth, trying to close the gap to get on the inside, where she was her most effective, but Promnick’s persistent pressure shifted the momentum later in the round. Two judges had Promnick a two-point winner, with the third scoring it a draw for a majority decision that lifted her record to 6-0. Nyanda dropped to 5-2. It was a fairytale win for Promnick, who started boxing with Alan Toweel when she was 16; for the trainer, she is his fourth national champion. Brutal knockout Heavyweight JJ Alberts edged Akani Phuzi by split decision over eight tough rounds fought in the trenches to lift his record to eight wins and a draw. By the end of the fourth round, Alberts looked exhausted, but somehow he kept pushing forward and trading punches with Phuzi. There were times his punches lacked snap and shape, yet he refused to stop advancing, displaying the stubbornness of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator character. Phuzi’s record dropped to 14-4. Congolese heavyweight Jose Kadima scored a frightening first-round knockout of veteran Johnny Muller, putting him down twice before knocking him through the ropes. The felled veteran, his feet caught in the ropes, lay unconscious on the ring apron for a few moments. Muller, who had his best fights at light-heavyweight and cruiserweight but hadn’t fought for two and a half years, was overmatched against the unbeaten prospect who improved his record to eight, six inside the distance. Muller, who dropped to 23-12-2, should consider hanging up his gloves. Former South African junior-lightweight titleholder Sibusiso Zingange and former national junior-welterweight champion Ntethelelo Nkosi fought to an entertaining eight-round draw at catchweight. The national junior-welterweight belt was originally supposed to be at stake, but Nkosi failed to make the limit. Andre Mulumba won his first paid contest on points over Cape Town-based Douglas Ntounta.

“Even if it’s an RDP house,” Jacobs said.

Caga immediately said she would speak to mayor Princess Faku to help improve Kuse’s situation.

“We will talk with everybody. The mayor, the private sector. Yes, he has been built by that environment,” Caga said. “We don’t take anything from that, but now we must improve his life, so that even those young kids who look up to Kuse see the example of his work and that done by the province,” he said.

Kuse was delighted with Caga’s promise.

In similar circumstances in 2022, the metro roped in the private sector and assisted late rugby star and Springbok women’s captain Lusanda Dumke to get a house.

Dumke also lived in the informal settlement in Mdantsane in NU10, just a stone’s throw from where Kuse lives.

Accompanied by his manager, Brian Mitchell, and Manny Fernandes, the 27-year-old Kuse was treated to a hero’s welcome on Saturday.

Travelling in a red convertible, showing his green and gold title next to BCM’s sports political head Amanda Ralasi, Kuse was paraded from City Hall through the KuGompo CBD, Duncan Village, all the way to Mdantsane.

At the highway and the NU6 Mall, everything stood still, with the public celebrating their hero.

Kuse then went to his old gym, the Sisonke Boxing Club, where he was nurtured from the age of 12 throughout his amateur career.

“This is where it all started. I was a naughty kid at school,” Kuse said. “The primary school teacher, the late Mr Mntusantu, told me to come to this gym.

“I always had a dream of being a world champion since I started here. We used to train with SA champions and international-travelled boxers like Thulani Mbenge … Now I’m a world champion myself and hoping to inspire others that come from the same backgrounds I come from, to keep on training to be champions.”

His mentor at the amateur level, Vuyo Mtekwana, was proud of Kuse’s achievements.

“When they [a group of boys] came in for the first time, there were so many, but in the group we identified Kuse and said he was going to be a champion.

“We took him to some tournaments; he did well, then escalated through the amateur ranks till professional,” he said.

Story audio is generated using AI Mdantsane’s Siyakholwa Kuse is tipped to finally bring the WBC title to the Eastern Cape when he challenges Filipino Melvin Jerusalem for the mini-flyweight belt at Emperors Palace in Ekurhuleni on Saturday. For all its reputation as the country’s boxing hotbed, the province has never produced a WBC title-holder despite numerous attempts. The first to challenge for the Mexico-based world sanctioning belt was the late Mdantsane’s Mzukisi Marali, when he was stopped in four rounds by Thai legend Saman Sorjaturong in a junior flyweight title clash in 1997. Other boxers who also came short were Simpiwe Vetyeka, when he lost on points to Japan’s Hosumi Hasegawa in a bantamweight title challenge, and the late Mhikiza Myekeni, who also dropped to a points decision to Thai legend Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the flyweight version. Mthatha’s Simpiwe Konkco was the first to try to bring the same title Kuse will be vying for, but suffered a points loss to another Thai legend, Cayaphon Moonsri, in 2019. Of course Kuse is also on the list, as he came short against Jerusalem in their first fight in Manila in October. But never has the opportunity to end the drought been amplified more than it is when Kuse goes for the immediate rematch against the Filipino, with no intervening bout between them since their Manila clash, when Kuse faded and lost the fight in the championship rounds. The WBC, whose president Mauricio Sulaiman will be ringside for his first SA visit, was so impressed by Kuse’s bold stand that it offered him an eliminator. But Kuse’s promoter, Golden Gloves Promotion, convinced the Filipino to accept an immediate rematch after Jerusalem’s planned unification clash against Oscar Collazo, who holds WBO and WBA titles, fell flat in March. While activities in their previous bout, such as celebrating the 50th anniversary of Thrilla in Manila, favoured Jerusalem, the rematch will coincide with Sulaiman’s engagements with the Boxing SA board as well as other SA boxing stakeholders, tilting the odds to the Mdantsane southpaw. For his part, Kuse, who has never lost a rematch, has promised to start the fight strong and finish stronger to leave no doubt on the judges’ scorecards. “I know the mistake I made in our first fight, which was due to my first time fighting in a foreign environment,” he said. “This time I am fighting at home, but even if I were not, I would do things differently. “At world level it is vital to finish strong, to leave a lasting impression on the judges. “I know Jerusalem will come strong, and the fact that he was willing to come here proves that he is confident of his chances. “But I have never fought for the same title twice and not won it, and that will not change.” Kuse understands the history awaiting him in victory, as he will become the fourth SA boxer to hold the WBC title, often recognised as the most prestigious in boxing. Only the late Dingaan Thobela won the trinket at home, when he stunned Englishman Glen Cately to take the WBC super middleweight title in 2000, following in the footsteps of Thulani “Sugarboy” Malinga, who achieved the feat in England by claiming the same belt, with an upset win over Nigel Benn four years earlier. Kuse will join Kevin Lerena, who holds the WBC bridgerweight belt, as the only SA boxers to hold a major world title. The tournament will also see Mdantsane’s Thobela Nyanda defending her SA mini-flyweight title against Tyla Promnick. Click here to join the Daily Dispatch’s WhatsApp channel and get the latest news delivered straight to your phone. Daily Dispatch

Boxing SA COO Mandla Ntlanganiso also said they were thrilled by Kuse’s recent accolade. He called for investment by the private sector to help achieve more world champions from the KuGompo City region.

“Boxing in Duncan Village and Mdantsane is like gold if it is supported. There can be more world champions produced. There are already boxing basics shown by kids; we are not short of talent … what we are requesting from the government and the corporate sector is to make sure boxing is taken forward,” he said.

After leaving the Sisonke Boxing Club, Kuse went to his home in Ngidi where he was welcomed by his parents and siblings.

Neighbours and fans sang and ululated as he walked to his home carrying his belt, accompanied by his management.

Later, at the Jan Smuts Stadium, where the Ground Up Promotion boxing event was taking place, he received rapturous applause from the crowd.

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