The eyes of South Africa will be on local hero Phumelela “The Truth” Cafu from Duncan Village outside East London when he takes on the dangerous and unbeaten Jesse Rodriguez in Texas on Saturday evening (19th July) for the WBC and WBO world super-flyweight title.
To beat Rodriguez in his own backyard, Cafu will have to climb Mount Everest, but there are those who believe a massive upset is possible. Going into a big fight abroad is not new for Cafu, as he won on a split decision against Kosei Tanaka in Japan on 14th October last year. This victory away from home could give him much confidence for Saturday’s bout.
Cafu is unbeaten after 14 fights with 11 wins and three draws. Rodriguez has won all 21 fights, with 14 coming via knockout. Trained by veteran Colin Nathan in Johannesburg, Cafu seems ready to get into the ring for the toughest fight of his career.
Nathan believes a big upset is on the cards. “Cafu has the ability to prove the critics wrong. We are out to prove a point. Results pay our bills and not opinions,” he said bluntly.
Nathan is not one of South Africa’s best trainers for nothing. In the past, he has guided fighters to produce upsets when not given even the slightest of chances.
Hekkie “The Hexecutioner” Budler is an excellent example, but the same can be said of Sivenathi “The Special One” Nontshinga. Then there is Cafu’s upset victory against Tanaka last year.
Another South African, Kevin “Two Guns” Lerena, will also have the biggest fight of his career when he gets into the ring at Wembley Stadium in London to face Lawrence Okolie for the WBC silver heavyweight title in front of 90,000 spectators.
The fight is on the undercard for the world heavyweight title between defending champion Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine and Daniel Dubois of Great Britain.
Lerena has a remarkable record, reaching for the stars without an amateur background. He is a force to be reckoned with, having won the SA and IBO cruiserweight belts, and the WBC silver and bridgerweight titles.
However, Okolie will start as the hot favourite in front of his home crowd, but cannot afford to underestimate the hard-hitting South African.
