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Tournament promotes Limpopo as the home of boxing champions

Tsiko Mulovhedzi of Limpopo, right, throws an uppercut to the face of Mziwoxolo Ndwayana of the Eastern Cape in a previous battle for the SA welterweight crown. /MARK ANDREWS
Tsiko Mulovhedzi of Limpopo, right, throws an uppercut to the face of Mziwoxolo Ndwayana of the Eastern Cape in a previous battle for the SA welterweight crown. /MARK ANDREWS

Tsiko "Cruel Junior" Mulovhedzi will put his IBF Intercontinental welterweight title on the line against Hungarian Laszlo Toth in the main bout of a tournament aimed at exposing the cultural diversity of Limpopo.

This announcement was made yesterday by promoter Phathutshedzo Dongola whose tournament will take place at Ngoako Ramatlhodi Sports Centre in Seshego, near Polokwane, next Friday.

"We have named it [the tournament] after the Baobab tree which is the biggest tree in the world," he said in reference to the largest succulent plant in Limpopo.

"Musangwe [an annual Venda fist fight] fighters fight under the same tree. Even today they still fight under it. It has a relationship with boxing. Remember that musangwe breeds boxers in our province. So we felt it was proper to recognise the tree for the role it plays in tourism," explained the boss of Limpopo Champions Promotions.

Dongola added that part of the package will include Tshikona traditional dancers.

"They perform during Musangwe fights," he said.

Mulovhedzi, from Vhembe, is a former musangwe fighter who has held both the South African and IBO belts.

His late father Ratshilumela "Cruel Senior" Mulovhedzi was undefeated as a musangwe fighter. He died in November last year at the age of 102.

Also next Friday, Limpopo rising star, Renson "Baghdad" Hobyane, will oppose Balemo Weliya from Cape Town for the vacant SA super middleweight title.

Hobyane, who is trained in Pretoria by former world champion, Sebastiaan Rothmann, is a 10-fight novice who has great potential.

"The boxing package will contribute and reconnect the province to its rightful place as the breeding place of boxers," said Dongola.

Limpopo has produced a number of great champions, including SA's only former six-time world champion Cassius "Shy Guy" Baloyi.

There will also be two female boxing bouts.

This announcement was made yesterday by promoter Phathutshedzo Dongola whose tournament will take place at Ngoako Ramatlhodi Sports Centre in Seshego, near Polokwane, next Friday.

"We have named it [the tournament] after the Baobab tree which is the biggest tree in the world," he said in reference to the largest succulent plant in Limpopo.

"Musangwe [an annual Venda fist fight] fighters fight under the same tree. Even today they still fight under it. It has a relationship with boxing. Remember that musangwe breeds boxers in our province. So we felt it was proper to recognise the tree for the role it plays in tourism," explained the boss of Limpopo Champions Promotions.

Dongola added that part of the package will include Tshikona traditional dancers.

"They perform during Musangwe fights," he said.

Mulovhedzi, from Vhembe, is a former musangwe fighter who has held both the South African and IBO belts.

His late father Ratshilumela "Cruel Senior" Mulovhedzi was undefeated as a musangwe fighter. He died in November last year at the age of 102.

Also next Friday, Limpopo rising star, Renson "Baghdad" Hobyane, will oppose Balemo Weliya from Cape Town for the vacant SA super middleweight title.

Hobyane, who is trained in Pretoria by former world champion, Sebastiaan Rothmann, is a 10-fight novice who has great potential.

"The boxing package will contribute and reconnect the province to its rightful place as the breeding place of boxers," said Dongola.

Limpopo has produced a number of great champions, including SA's only former six-time world champion Cassius "Shy Guy" Baloyi.

There will also be two female boxing bouts.