ISAAC "Golden Boy" Chilemba has won half the battle against former trainer and manager Nick Durandt.

ISAAC "Golden Boy" Chilemba has won half the battle against former trainer and manager Nick Durandt.

They are at loggerheads after Chilemba's departure to trainer Colin Nathan's camp, which has sparked a legal dispute between the two parties.

Chilemba fought twice under Nathan. Boxing South Africa withheld 25percent of Chilemba's purse money because Durandt still has a contract with the fighter.

But Chilemba's manager Jodi Solomons told Sowetan that the South Gauteng High Court ruled last week that Boxing SA cannot withhold Chilemba's purse money because the boxer is not one of their licensees.

Chilemba is from Malawi, while Durandt is South African.

"The ruling means that BSA must pay Isaac back his money," Solomons said.

Chilemba fights using his Malawian boxing licence. They clear him every time he has a fight.

BSA's acting chief executive Loyiso Mtya said it was true that Chilemba was not their licensee and that the two parties have their own contract. But Mtya said they had not received any paperwork from the South Gauteng High Court.

"We are still holding the money," he confirmed yesterday. "We acted the way we did because of the legal dispute between the two parties."

Durandt is in the US with Chris van Heerden.

Chilemba, 23, from Blantyre, made his professional debut here on October 19 2005 under Durandt. He won the ABU belt in the super middleweight division but then left Durandt for Nathan in April last year.

Chilemba bolted Nathan's stable and joined Elias Tshabalala in November last year.

Chilemba is pencilled in to fight Rupert "The Natural" van Aswegen for the vacant WBC International light heavyweight title at Emperors Palace on June 19. Their fight will form part of Golden Gloves Promotion's four-title championship bill that has been dubbed Blockbuster.