Vetyeka believes Sogcwayi is the next boxing star

Top amateur makes his professional debut in October

East London boxer Sanele Sogcwayi with Rodney a Berman after signing with him.
East London boxer Sanele Sogcwayi with Rodney a Berman after signing with him.
Image: SUPPLIED

Emerging boxing trainer Simpiwe Vetyeka has described Sanele Sogcwayi as a youngster with potential to carry the hopes of boxing-loving South Africans to a better tomorrow.

“There are just a few things that need to be polished otherwise the boy is the future,” said the accomplished former WBA super and IBO featherweight boxing champion from Mdantsane.

“I am also happy that Golden Gloves has an interest in him,” said 43-year-old Vetyeka.

Golden Gloves MD Rodney Berman said Sogcwayi will have his first professional fight in October at Emperors Palace. “This is how we build him into a star,” he said. “It is very special for me to build a boxer from Mdantsane where most of our former world champions come from.”

Golden Gloves has done wonders in shaping up careers of former top amateurs. That includes Masibulele “Hawk” Makepula who turned professional on his return from the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996.

Berman has also done well with Ricardo “Magic Man” Malajika, the former six-time SA amateur champion from South Hills in Johannesburg, who became an IBO world champion last year.

Sogcwayi, 22, from Mdantsane was first trained by Khangelani Jack at Paradise Boxing Gym before Jack relocated to Johannesburg. Jack teamed up with manager Colleen MacAusland whose gym in Meyerton is home to Amzolele “Globe” Dyeyi from Mdantsane.

Vetyeka says boxing manager Thembelani “Shakes” Hlombe asked him to train his fighters, including Sogcwayi, when Jack left.

“I did that until I had to leave and focus in my own gym which had been vandalised during the Covid-19 period,” he said. “Some of the boxers I trained, including Sogcwayi, at Paradise Gym still want me to train them, but they are managed by Shakes.”

Sogcwayi and Dyeyi were part of the Sanabo team that participated in the inaugural Mandela African Boxing Cup in April in Durban where the South Africans were supposed to gauge their preparedness for the second leg of the Paris Olympics qualifiers in Thailand in April.

Dyeyi lost in the finals while Sogcwayi was unable to show up for the finals because of a bad cut he sustained in his semifinal bout. He also settled for a silver medal.

Sanabo decided not to send its team to China, citing poor performance during the Mandela African Boxing Cup – an event which was organised by both the International Boxing Association and the African Boxing Confederation with Sanabo as hosts.

After realising that their goal of going to the Olympics had been shattered, Dyeyi and Sogcwayi decided to turn professional.


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