Thulani "Tulz" Mbenge must avoid focusing on knocking opponents out because he becomes blind to the many other weapons in his arsenal.

The smiling assassin from Mdantsane in East London will welcome Jayar "Hitman" Inson from the Philippines in a non-title welterweight bout at Emperors Palace next Saturday.

Mbenge boasts 10 knockouts from 10 fights while Inson has knocked out nine of his 13 victims.

The two are so evenly matched that their bout could upstage the headline IBO strawweight championship between defending champion Simpiwe "Chain Reaction" Konkco and Inson's countryman Lito Dante.

Inson has fought only once outside his home country while Dante will be making his second trip to the country where he was outpointed by Siyabonga Siyo over 10 rounds at Orient Theatre in August 2015.

Next Saturday's tournament will be staged by Golden Gloves, with promoter Rodney Berman dubbing it "Hurtin' For Certain".

It will feature an alluring shootout between Thabiso Mchunu and Johnny Muller, who will fight for the vacant African Boxing Union (ABU) cruiserweight belt.

Berman has added a super- middleweight bout between current champion Lee Dyer and Alfonso Tissen. But they will do battle for a vacant ABU strap.

But most eyes will be fixed firmly on Mbenge ,who has endeared himself to fight fans at Emperors Palace where he won both the ABU and SA belts.

The sooner Mbenge appreciates and uses the talent he has, the easier he will win his fights.

Trained in Johannesburg by Sean Smith, Mbenge did not look particularly impressive against then defending SA champion Sean Ness in April.

Ness was uncompromising and he y made Mbenge think.

When Mbenge began boxing behind his jab, Ness opened up for the right hand, which did damage, prompting trainer Colin Nathan to throw in the towel in round seven.

Mbenge has age on his side, height and just the right attitude; he must just make use of all his artillery and opponents will go down easier than he can imagine.