3rd win takes Nonina to the boxing top

LOCAL female boxer, Bukiwe “Anaconda” Nonina, says she now has her sights on an international title, after she defended her bantamweight title for the third consecutive time.

Nonina (22) defeated Nolubabalo Nqgodelana from East London on points after they went through 10 rounds without any signs of yielding during a boxing match which was held at the Giyani community hall last Saturday. “It was one of the hardest fights of my career, if it weren’t for good timing and the ability to maintain strength throughout the match, I wouldn’t have won,” said Nonina.

“But I’ve learnt something from that fight, to never undermine your opponent.” The win improved her professional record to eight wins, two losses and one draw out of 11 professional fights.

“Now that I’m through with this fight, I need to prepare myself for an international fight,” she said.

According to Nonina’s trainer, Emanuel Mutavhatsindi, who is also a boxing promoter at the Giyani Boxing Club, Nonina will fight against an opponent from The Philippines in August.

“We need the Greater Giyani Municipality to come on board and support us through the renovation of the old boxing infrastructure where we currently train in, to make it easier to recruit young people or any other potential boxer,” he said.

Asked if they had any particular fight plan that they would use against The Philippine boxer, Mutavhatsindi said they approached each fight differently, depending on the opponent.

“We have different combinations and styles of approaching a match, it all depends on how powerful the opponent is, in this case we will still have to study this opponent before we plan our strategies,” he said, promising boxing fans that they would see a different Nonina in the next fight.