THE on-off rematch between Mpumalanga homeboys Koos Sibiya, the Gauteng junior-lightweight champion, and Ashley Dlamini, is off again.
The challenger, Dlamini, is injured trainer Colin Nathan announced yesterday.
Nathan said Dlamini, who had been calling for this eagerly-awaited grudge fight for more than two months, snapped his ankle in the gym on Thursday last week.
''Ashley is actually going for an operation next Tuesday," said Nathan.
Dlamini failed to dethrone Sibiya when the two met at Emperors Palace in June. Their closely-contested 10-rounder was declared a draw and Sibiya retained his provincial title by virtue of being the champion.
But at least Sibiya, who is trained by Bernie Pailman in Westbury, will still feature in the Golden Gloves bill at the Palace of Dreams on Saturday night. He will now defend against Thembani Hobyani, who is trained by Manny Fernandes.
It will also be their second meeting. Hobyani has the opportunity to avenge his points loss to Sibiya.
Fernandes said they were not worried about coming in as late replacements.
Pailman was still angry about Dlamini's withdrawal when interviewed about their new opponent yesterday.
''This is the second time he does this, and yet he was calling for Koos [to fight him], through the media. We will never accommodate him [again], even when he recovers," said Pailman.
''Ashley must go and entertain people in box-and-dine tournaments as he has been doing in the past to earn the name 'King of Box and Dine'.
Pailman will assist Nathan in the corner of his other two charges - IBO minimum-weight champion Hekkie Budler and Adam de Moor.
Budler will defend against Argentinian Hugo Verchelli and the winner will also take home the vacant WBA Interim title. De Moor, a prospect, will meet Nkosinathi Tshinavhe over eight rounds.
Meanwhile, Thomas Oosthuizen will defend his IBO super-middleweight strap against Verchelli's homeboy, Ezequiel Mardena in the main bout of the tournament.
Sibiya and Dlamini fight off again
THE on-off rematch between Mpumalanga homeboys Koos Sibiya, the Gauteng junior-lightweight champion, and Ashley Dlamini, is off again.
The challenger, Dlamini, is injured trainer Colin Nathan announced yesterday.
Nathan said Dlamini, who had been calling for this eagerly-awaited grudge fight for more than two months, snapped his ankle in the gym on Thursday last week.
''Ashley is actually going for an operation next Tuesday," said Nathan.
Dlamini failed to dethrone Sibiya when the two met at Emperors Palace in June. Their closely-contested 10-rounder was declared a draw and Sibiya retained his provincial title by virtue of being the champion.
But at least Sibiya, who is trained by Bernie Pailman in Westbury, will still feature in the Golden Gloves bill at the Palace of Dreams on Saturday night. He will now defend against Thembani Hobyani, who is trained by Manny Fernandes.
It will also be their second meeting. Hobyani has the opportunity to avenge his points loss to Sibiya.
Fernandes said they were not worried about coming in as late replacements.
Pailman was still angry about Dlamini's withdrawal when interviewed about their new opponent yesterday.
''This is the second time he does this, and yet he was calling for Koos [to fight him], through the media. We will never accommodate him [again], even when he recovers," said Pailman.
''Ashley must go and entertain people in box-and-dine tournaments as he has been doing in the past to earn the name 'King of Box and Dine'.
Pailman will assist Nathan in the corner of his other two charges - IBO minimum-weight champion Hekkie Budler and Adam de Moor.
Budler will defend against Argentinian Hugo Verchelli and the winner will also take home the vacant WBA Interim title. De Moor, a prospect, will meet Nkosinathi Tshinavhe over eight rounds.
Meanwhile, Thomas Oosthuizen will defend his IBO super-middleweight strap against Verchelli's homeboy, Ezequiel Mardena in the main bout of the tournament.