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'Iron Man' devastated after failed medical test

BROKEN: Klaas Mboyane, left, in his fight against Zimbabwean Tapiwa Tembo who he outpointed in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni last year PHOTO: ANTONIO MUCHAVE
BROKEN: Klaas Mboyane, left, in his fight against Zimbabwean Tapiwa Tembo who he outpointed in Boksburg, Ekurhuleni last year PHOTO: ANTONIO MUCHAVE

Erstwhile South African champion Klaas "Iron Man" Mboyane failed his medical in Namibia last week, forcing his challenge against WBO Intercontinental bantamweight champion Immanuel "Prince" Naidjala scheduled for Saturday night to be called off.

This was revealed by promoter Nestor Tobias.

"We can confirm that Klaas did not pass his medical. The Namibian Boxing Control Board rightly insists that all foreign boxers undergo another medical in Namibia irrespective of the current medical records they come with," Tobias said yesterday.

He could not divulge Mboyane's medical status due to the private and confidential nature of the matter.

Boxing SA requires fighters to undergo medical check-ups on HIV/Aids and Hepatitis B annually when they renew their licenses.

Mboyane, 32, a former WBO Intercontinental champion, has not fought since June 26 last year when he outpointed Zimbabwean Tapiwa Tembo in Boksburg.

"I checked my blood an hour after my arrival in Namibia. We then proceeded to the weigh-in. The promoter came to me three hours before the fight and said I had failed blood medicals," said the boxer, who works as a personal trainer at a Sandton gym.

He added: "[The promoter] said the board had taken the decision to cancel the fight. I am broken. I am going back to do my medical this week and will take it from there."

Trainer Manny Fernandes said: "Everything was fine with Klaas when he renewed his licence in April.

"I am sending him for another medical. I just hope that everything is fine."

BSA's Gauteng manager Archie Nyingwa said: "We cannot issue a clearance to a boxer to fight outside the country without a proper certificate."

A pathology certificate from Global Clinical Viral Laboratory in KwaZulu-Natal to a Gauteng doctor - who sent through Mboyane's blood samples when he renewed his licence in April - stated that an HIV/Aids test was conducted and the results were "non-reactive" and that's why BSA cleared him to fly out to Namibia last week.

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