Zolani Tete says he will not relinquish the IBF junior bantamweight title simply because of the pathetic purse he will allegedly be paid for his mandatory defence.
Tete must make his defence against McJoe Arroyo.
The 27-year-old will be paid R300000, which was determined by last week's purse bid of $25000 (about R296000) won by Golden Boy Promotion at the IBF's headquarters in New Jersey, US. The purse includes Tete's travel and accommodation costs as well as tax.
The bid was called after the two camps had failed to reach an agreement regarding who was going to promote the fight, which is how it ended up with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotion winning the purse bid.
Tete said there was still a chance he would vacate his title, but for a different reason.
"I will vacate my title only if Arroyo's management insists that we fight on May 30 because I will not be ready," said Tete yesterday, before making it clear that he was prepared to go anywhere in the world to fight Arroyo.
"I have seen Arroyo's fights, he is a left-hander just like me, but [he] is slightly shorter. He is not in my league."
The IBF rules regarding purse bids is that a fight has to take place within 90 days of the actual date of the bid.
"You see, no one is talking to me about these things," said Tete, who revealed that the last time he spoke to his promoter Branco Milenkovic was four days after his voluntary defence against Paul Butler on March 6 in the UK.
Milenkovic, who was quoted as saying he would not renew his contract with Tete, told Sowetan yesterday he was not in a position to meet the boxer's demand of R5.6- million to defend his title against Arroyo. "I was told this was offered by an overseas promoter and I didn't want to stand in the way . I was surprised to learn that Golden Boy won [the bid] with only R300000."
Tete ready to face Arroyo despite lousy purse
Zolani Tete says he will not relinquish the IBF junior bantamweight title simply because of the pathetic purse he will allegedly be paid for his mandatory defence.
Tete must make his defence against McJoe Arroyo.
The 27-year-old will be paid R300000, which was determined by last week's purse bid of $25000 (about R296000) won by Golden Boy Promotion at the IBF's headquarters in New Jersey, US. The purse includes Tete's travel and accommodation costs as well as tax.
The bid was called after the two camps had failed to reach an agreement regarding who was going to promote the fight, which is how it ended up with Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotion winning the purse bid.
Tete said there was still a chance he would vacate his title, but for a different reason.
"I will vacate my title only if Arroyo's management insists that we fight on May 30 because I will not be ready," said Tete yesterday, before making it clear that he was prepared to go anywhere in the world to fight Arroyo.
"I have seen Arroyo's fights, he is a left-hander just like me, but [he] is slightly shorter. He is not in my league."
The IBF rules regarding purse bids is that a fight has to take place within 90 days of the actual date of the bid.
"You see, no one is talking to me about these things," said Tete, who revealed that the last time he spoke to his promoter Branco Milenkovic was four days after his voluntary defence against Paul Butler on March 6 in the UK.
Milenkovic, who was quoted as saying he would not renew his contract with Tete, told Sowetan yesterday he was not in a position to meet the boxer's demand of R5.6- million to defend his title against Arroyo. "I was told this was offered by an overseas promoter and I didn't want to stand in the way . I was surprised to learn that Golden Boy won [the bid] with only R300000."
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