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IBF kings to go hell for leather

MEAN: Dejan Zaveck. Pic. Bafana Mahlangu. 09/12/2009. © 20091209 BMA Face to Face Isaac "The Angel" Hlatshwayo will be defending his IBF World Welterweight Championship Title over 12 rounds against Jan Zaveck from Ptuj, Slovenija / Former Yugoslavia fighting out of Germany. The fight will be held at Wembley Arena, Johannesburg on the 11.12.2009. PHOTO: BAFANA MAHLANGU
MEAN: Dejan Zaveck. Pic. Bafana Mahlangu. 09/12/2009. © 20091209 BMA Face to Face Isaac "The Angel" Hlatshwayo will be defending his IBF World Welterweight Championship Title over 12 rounds against Jan Zaveck from Ptuj, Slovenija / Former Yugoslavia fighting out of Germany. The fight will be held at Wembley Arena, Johannesburg on the 11.12.2009. PHOTO: BAFANA MAHLANGU

TWO world champions from the Branco Sports Productions (BSP) stable, Simphiwe Nongqayi and Dejan Zaveck, will defend their IBF titles tonight.

TWO world champions from the Branco Sports Productions (BSP) stable, Simphiwe Nongqayi and Dejan Zaveck, will defend their IBF titles tonight.

Nongqayi and Zaveck will bid for first defences of their IBF junior bantamweight and welterweight titles.

Nongqayi won his title on September 15 after outpointing Mexican legend Jorge Arce in Mexico while Zaveck dethroned Isaac Hlatshwayo in just three rounds here on December 11.

Nongqayi, the 37-year-old fighter from Border Post in East London who is trained by Nick Durandt, will defend against Bouziane Malik in Massy, France.

The Frenchman holds the European title.

The local fight fraternity, which hoped to see this contest live on Blow by Blow, as has been the case with several boxers from the BSP camp, will be disappointed because it will not be televised. But Nongqayi, SA's oldest current world champion - who epitomises the adage that where there is a will, there is always hope - should retain his title.

Nongqayi is undefeated after 16 outings, with six short-route wins while Malik, 32, is also undefeated after 14 fights, with one draw.

Zaveck, 34, who fights out of Magdeburg in Germany, will defend against Rodolfo Ezequiel Martinez in Slovenia. Zaveck, who gave Hlatshwayo hell, packs a mean punch, though his knockout ratio of 16 from 28 wins, against one defeat, is misleading. Martinez has fought 41 times, winning 36 fights, with 13 KOs, three losses and a draw.

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