Edenvale boxers take top honours
As the fight progressed Kuse stepped up the pace and while he attacked the bloodied champion at will
Edenvale-based boxer Siyakholwa ‘One Way’ Kuse made history, becoming South Africa’s fourth WBC champion, following in the footsteps of the great Thulani ‘Sugarboy’ Malinga, Dingaan ‘The Rose of Soweto’ Thobela and Kevin ‘The KO Kid’ Lerena.
Kuse, boxing out of the Brian Mitchell Boxing Academy in Edenvale, beat WBC mini-flyweight world champion, Melvin Jerusalem of the Philippines, with a unanimous points decision.
Kuse and Jerusalem fought on May 16 in the headline bout of the One Way To Redemption Box and Dine Tournament at Emperors Palace’s centre court.
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From the opening bell, Kuse was relentless, but Jerusalem was up to the task of defending his title with the opening few rounds an even affair despite the Filipino struggling with a cut above his left eye.
As the fight progressed, Kuse stepped up the pace and attacked the bloodied champion at will.
The determined Filipino never backed down and even sent Kuse to the canvas in the eleventh round.
Despite this scare, with the fans chanting his name, Kuse marched on to claim victory and the WBC belt.
The judges, including one from the Philippines, scored the fight 116-111, 115-112, 116-112 in the South African’s favour.
Having lost to Jerusalem in a closely contested fight in the Philippines in October last year, it was a night of redemption for the new South African boxing champion.
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Kuse is only the second South African to win a WBC world title in a fight on home soil since Thobela 26 years ago.
Promnick wins the SA title
On the undercard of the bill, Edenvale’s Tyla ‘Duracell’ Promnick continued her rise to fame and boxing fortune by becoming the youngest woman to hold a SA boxing championship belt.
The 21-year-old Promnick, who trains under the watchful eye of Alan Toweel in Linden, took on SA women’s minimumweight champion, Thobela Nyanda, for the Eastern Cape boxer’s title.
After a closely contested 10 rounds, the judges decided Promnick, who looked sharper throughout, had done enough to take home the national minimumweight title. They scored the fight 96-94, 96-94, 95-95 in the new champion’s favour.
The victory takes the Edenvale boxer to an impressive 6-0.
Fellow Edenvale boxer, Ntethelelo Nkosi, who trains at Durandt’s Boxing and Fitness in Linksfield, was also in action on the undercard against Sibusiso Zingange of Reiger Park.
The two were scheduled to fight for the vacant SA junior welterweight title, but as Nkosi didn’t make the weight, they faced off in an entertaining catchweight eight-rounder that went the distance and produced a majority draw.
