Mr Knockout from Kagiso

To be a top athlete and compete at the highest level one must work hard and be resilient. Along with those traits an athlete has to have the ability to overcome obstacles and show some fighting spirit.

Mpho Seforo, a professional boxer from Kagiso, is someone who knows how to throw a punch and is always ready for a challenge. He has been a boxer for 10 years and built a solid career ever since, stepping up when it matters most. Seforo has been boxing since the age of 19 but despite getting involved in the sport only at a later age, his determination has led him to win in the ring, bag accolades and earn respect.

He has also come face to face with some of the best in the business and was even nominated for various awards. He was first introduced to boxing at a local gym but it was when a fellow local boxer saw his potential and talent that he took him under his wing. Seforo has never looked back.

When Seforo first started, he talked about how he competed in various amateur boxing tournaments but it was through hard work that he developed the skills to compete and win his first competitive fight via knockout in 2012. He further described his first few years as a learning curve.

“It is important first of all to get the basics right. In boxing, and to be an elite, you must be willing to learn new things. I got better over the years before becoming a pro.”

In 2013, Seforo would make his mark by winning a silver medal at the West Rand Boxing Championships.

“It was huge for me at that time because it meant that I qualified to compete in provincial tournaments,” he said.

This amazing achievement would eventually lead him to the Gauteng Championships in the same year where he won the junior flyweight title. At the time, he also had an impressive record of having fought five times without a loss.

He then made his professional debut in 2015 and impressed by winning the World Boxing Federation All Africa junior flyweight title. He describes this moment as surreal and incredible because it was very early days in his boxing career.

“To compete and win against fighters who were already established long before I was is just crazy. But it was all thanks to coaching, having the right mindset, and respecting your opponent.”

As a message of motivation to other youngsters, Seforo concluded by saying, “I did lose fights but I learnt so much more from the losses than the wins.”

Seforo is among the top-ranked boxers in South Africa and hopes to challenge for bigger titles in the future.