The winner of the fight for the vacant Interim WBA Pan African junior middleweight belt between Nkululeko "Bulldog" Mhlongo and Ugandan Cristiano Ndombassy on Friday night will automatically earn the right to challenge Frans Ramabolu.

The announcement was made by WBA's head honcho in South Africa, Stanley Christodoulou, yesterday.

Ramabolu is the organisation's Pan African holder after he won the title with a fourth-round knockout of George Mdluli in Bloemfontein last month.

"In the event Ramabolu does not honour the obligation of making his mandatory defence, then the winner between Mhlongo and Ndombassy will become the new Pan African title holder. But for now the winner will become mandatory challenger," said Christodoulou.

Mhlongo and the Cape Town-based Ndombassy will headline a tournament that will be staged by China Mpololo at OR Tambo Hall in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.

There was some earlier controversy surrounding Ndombassy's fight record, with initial figures showing he had only fought three times - winning all three - while Mhlongo, the SA and WBF Intercontinental champion, has won 12 of his 15 fights.

But Christodoulou said Ndombassy had seven fights and six wins by stoppages.

"I checked with Willie Saayman [chairman of the ratings committee], Peter Ngatane [chairman of Boxing SA's sanctioning committee] and Mickey Klaas [BSA's Western Cape provincial manager] who all confirmed Ndombassy's updated fight record," he said.

Trainer Sechaba Mabuya said Mhlongo had recovered fully from the injury he sustained last month, when he was hit with a brick in the his face as he was about to begin jogging in Soweto.

"The Bulldog is ready to do some mauling," cautioned Mabuya. "When I first heard that we were fighting Cristiano, I thought finally we will get some challenge from an Italian. But when I checked I realised that he is from Uganda.

"I doff my hat to this guy for his bravery when local boxers are avoiding Mhlongo."

The fight will be televised live on SABC2.