The winner of the SA heavyweight title bout between champion Anton Nel and challenger Donovan Luff later this month will have a short-lived reign, warns Kathy Deftereos, the manager of Osborne Machimana.

"They must go into their fight knowing too well that Osborne is waiting for the winner. He wants what rightfully belongs to him," Deftereos said yesterday.

Machimana, who stopped Nel in previous title fights in 2002 and 2005, is on the comeback trail and is looking impressive.

He was promoted to No 7 in the national rankings after his third-round knockout win over Congolese Mugabon Mudimba two weeks ago - his first bout in two years.

He had last fought in 2013 when he was outpointed by Elvis Moyo for the WBA Pan Africa belt. Machimana looked like a sumo wrestler then, weighing 130kg and unable to dodge the punishment that was being handed out.

Machimana, now under trainer Michele Castellan, looked super fit as he tipped the scale at 116kg for his bout against Mudimba.

"The sleeping giant is wide awake. Already there is an offer for a fight in Australia but we are not in a rush," warned Deftereos.

"First things first and that is winning the SA title."

The boxer said: "I've got a big team behind me and they have done so much to get me where I am.

"Kathy is like a mother to me. For the first time in my career I got to know about proper diet. So, ja, the future looks very bright."