South Africa's emerging star boxer Rofhiwa "War Child" Maemu could take over from where former two-time world champion Brian Mitchell left off.

Former WBA and IBF junior lightweight champion Mitchell made 12 defences of his WBA belt around the globe and later won the IBF title outside South Africa to eventually became known as "The Road Warrior".

Now the spotlight falls on Maemu, the 25-year-old human tornado from Venda, who is trained in Johannesburg by Alan Toweel Junior.

Maemu holds the ABU and WBA Pan African featherweight belts.

He has been to Namibia where he chalked up a win in 2016, and later did the same against Immanuel Andeleki of Botswana for the then vacant WBA regional title in Gaborone in October.

Maemu went back there on December 7 to defend his title, before pulverising homeboy Tshifhiwa Munyai into submission in seven rounds in Venda 22 days later.

Maemu will defend his marginal WBA belt in Swaziland against Tanzanian Haidari "Blue Fire" Mchanjo on Friday night.

If statistics are anything to go by, then Maemu will reign supreme. He has already fought five championship bouts against revered boxers and has flattened 10 of his 15 victims in 24 bouts.

The lesser-known Mchanjo has chalked up nine wins from 14 bouts.

"We have never underestimated any boxer we have fought, and that is not going to start now. We respect Mchanjo and we are going out there to give our best.

"But I must say that defeat does not appear in our vocabulary, not now, because there are big plans in store for Rofhiwa," said Toweel.

Maemu runs almost 34km from home in Pimville, Soweto, to Toweel's gym in Linden every training day.