WORLD Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight champion Simpiwe “V12” Vetyeka is in buoyant mood ahead of his defence against equally capable Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire in Macau, China, on Saturday.
Vetyeka?s manager, Andile Sdinile, said from their camp in Hong Kong on Monday that “all is well here. Vetyeka had 12 rounds on pads with trainer Vuyani Bungu. He?s had many cardio training sessions with assistant trainer Boy Boy Mpulampula since we arrived here on Thursday.
“It is very hot here.”
The heat will make it easy for Vetyeka to make the weight limit of 57.25kg ? he was 58kg when they left for Hong Kong last week. “We were tempted to give him his favourite soft drink ? Coca-Cola ? as an incentive because he has done very well to maintain his weight. Everything is going just fine and Simpiwe is ready,” said Sdinile, who revealed that the first boxer from East London to unify world boxing titles always says that he is the special one.
“He keeps on saying God put him on this fight to unify the featherweight division. There is no way not to believe him. His confidence is high. He says his best always comes out during fights of this magnitude.”
Vetyeka, 33, first captured the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) strap from Indonesian Cino Daud Yordan on April 14 last year. He stopped Yordan in the 12th round before adding the WBA Super strap which he won via a seventh-round stoppage of Daud?s countryman Chris John, on December 6 in Australia.
Fight-game politics forced Vetyeka to relinquish the IBO strap just after the announcement that Donaire was only interested in the WBA Super strap.
Donaire?s promoter, Bob Arum, said if Vetyeka wanted to put the IBO strap on the line, then air fares, stipends and hotel accommodation for IBO officials and a sanctioning fee would be deducted from his purse. So Vetyeka let go of the IBO belt.
Donaire is a former IBF, WBO and The Ring junior featherweight champion. He is also the former World Boxing Council, WBO bantamweight champion, interim WBA Super, IBF and IBO flyweight champion.
Their clash will top the “Featherweight Fury” bill, which will also see Jamaican Nicholas Walters defend his WBA belt against Armenian Vic Darchinyan and Russian Evgeny Gradovich put his IBF belt on the line against Japan?s Yasutaka Ishimoto.
