International Boxing Federation (IBF) inter-continental junior lightweight champion Azinga ‘Golden Boy’ Fuzile hit the jackpot at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday morning.
In the city best known for gambling and bright lights, the Eastern Cape fighter scored a seventh-round technical knockout victory over Briton Martin Joseph Ward in an official IBF world title eliminator.
It was a brilliant return to the ring for the 24-year-old Duncan Village fighter, trained by Mzamo ‘Chief’ Njekanje, after a lengthy layoff since September 2019.
Azinga Fuzile at the weigh-in before the fight. Picture: Getty Images
Ward (now 25-3-11 knockouts) found underdog Fuzile’s (15-1-9 ) wide, hunkering, awkward southpaw stance more than a handful and was forced to quit with what appeared to be a left leg injury shortly before the end of the seventh. Not before being floored, however, by a pin-point right hook from Fuzile and taking his second standing eight count of the fight.
His handlers, sensing their charge was very restricted in his movement, wisely threw in the towel to avoid any further injury.
Fuzile used his hand speed, combined with exceptional defensive skills and a characteristic shoulder roll, to great effect and was a very difficult target, leaving Ward no option but to employ a similar “stick and move” strategy to that of Moruti Mthalani’s opponent, Sunny Edwards, a few weeks back.
Even more remarkable was the fact that Njekanje had arrived in the US at the 11th hour after encountering visa problems and there was a fear that he may not even be in his charge’s corner for the fight.
While he has promotional ties to Rumble Africa Promotions, Fuzile is still managed by Johannesburg-based No Doubt Management and negotiations for a guaranteed IBF world title shot are expected to pick up steam shortly.