Maitse accused of selling his soul by sparring in Japan

Reigning SA junior-featherweight champion Bongani Mahlangu said he was grossly disappointed that his firstborn son, Bheki Maitse, had sold his soul for money by flying to Japan to assist Tomoki Kameda with sparring for the IBF elimination fight against Lerato Dlamini in Osaka on August 24.

At stake between Dlamini and Kameda will be the No 1 spot in the IBF’s featherweight division where Dlamini is rated No 2, a spot above the Japanese. 

The winner will be in line to challenge IBF featherweight titlist Luis Lopez Vargas of Mexico.

The upcoming bout will be a crucial one for both fighters, especially Kameda. The former WBO bantamweight and WBC junior-featherweight world champion is 33 years old and has had 45 fights.

He is also under pressure to avenge the split decision points loss he suffered against 30-year-old Dlamini when they fought in Tokyo in October.

Maitse, 23, stays with his mother in Sharpeville. He left a week ago with 24-year-old amateur boxer John Paul Masamba.

“I also heard about him going to Japan; I am so disappointed,” said Mahlangu, the former Olympian from Boipatong.

“I told myself when I became a professional boxer in 2006 after the 2004 Summer Olympics that I will never sell my soul for money. It is even worse to do that against your countryman.

“You know I had offers – due to my age – to throw fights away for money but I turned those offers down for my pride.

“There is nothing I could have done because Bheki is no longer training with me and my younger brother Sandile. Bheki is with France Ramabolu at WBC Gym in the Carlton Centre. I think if Bheki can be offered money to fight me, he will take that offer.”

“Bheki left us in January and his departure left us with broken hearts because he said nothing but just left,” said Sandile. “My brother spoke to him but the boy stood by his decision. We would not have allowed him to go and help a Japanese against a South African, especially Lerato who is like a family to us.”

Ramabolu and Dlamini’s homeboys from the Free State. Several attempts to get a comment from him yesterday were unsuccessful.

Dlamini said: “As much as I don’t care because I will still beat Kameda, somehow I am disappointed. Think of it, Bra Bongs, South Africans are helping a Japanese to beat their fellow South African.”