In a week marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ held in former Zaire, Central Africa when ‘The Greatest’ Muhammad Ali captured the World Heavyweight title for, a then record third time, we post another article by esteemed South African boxing writer and historian Ron Jackson.
My connection with Muhammad Ali
The first time I read about Muhammad Ali then known as Cassius Clay, was in 1960 after he won an Olympic gold medal at the Rome Olympics, and as a young 19-year-old upstart walked around the Olympic village with the medal around his neck claiming that he was greatest.
Many years later in an autobiography Ali claimed that shortly after his return from the Olympics he threw the Olympic medal into the Ohio River after he and a friend were refused service at a “whites-only” restaurant.
However, this has been disputed by some of his close friends and it has been reported that he lost the medal, which was replaced and presented to him at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, when in a much publicised event he lit the torch to begin the Games.
The insult of not being allowed into the restaurant was possibly the start of his stand against injustices to his race and he spent a lifetime standing up for his beliefs, whatever the consequences.
As the South African government only allowed the introduction of television into the country in 1976 we were denied watching the Olympics and most of the fights of Ali’s professional career live; and had to rely on newspaper reports and video tapes of Ali’s fights and career.
Subsequently though video tapes and later DVD’s and the many books written about Ali I was able to continue my journey with the career and life of Ali.
There must be more than 50 books published on the career of Ali and I am privileged to have 50 in my collection, with possibly the most outstanding being His Life and Times by Thomas Hauser and the most controversial being Ghosts of Manila by Mark Kram.
However, there is one book that that is the best of them all and possibly one of the best sports books ever produced, and that is GOAT (A Tribute To Muhammad Ali – Greatest Of All Time) published in 2003 by Taschen in two limited editions.
The “Champs Edition” was limited to 1000 individually numbered copies, with each one signed by Muhammad Ali and sculptor Jeff Koons.
The book weighs 34 kilograms and comes with Koon’s Radical Champs sculpture and is packaged in a silk covered box, and bound in pink leather by the official bindery for the Vatican, and today would cost in the region of £9000 (R156 502), which is out of the reach of most collectors.
Subsequently Taschen published a revised, updated and smaller version which cost in the region R1200 and made it accessible for the average collector.
Including the revised edition of The Greatest of All Time, there are two other books special books in my collection.
The Cassius Clay Story by George Sullivan published in 1964 has become a real collectors piece and the other one Cassius Clay – A Biography by Jack Olsen published in 1967, is not as rare but nice to have in a collection.
Clay and Ali memorabilia and especially items signed by Cassius Clay have always been expensive and will now be out of reach to the ordinary collector since his death.
Ali is without a doubt the most written and spoken about sportsman in history and will never be forgotten.
For me it has been a privilege to enjoy the journey of Clay and subsequently Ali, through books and videos over the past 56 years.
Ali passed away on June 3, 2016 and on Friday June 10, one week after his passing Ali’s funeral took place in Louisville Kentucky, his place of birth and he was laid to rest in the Cave Hill Cemetery located at 701 Baxter Avenue.
Boxing’s world belts – The Ring championship bottom left.
In July 1987 the then Editor-In-Chief of The Ring magazine Nigel Collins had finally seen enough of the proliferation of boxing weight classes and multiple sanctioning bodies. He penned a cover article titled A Return to Sanity and it was followed by affirmative action.
In it he decreed the magazine would return to only recognising the eight traditional weight classes, from flyweight through to heavyweight. He was supported by his colleagues and many of its readers and observers of the sport.
Over the following months they produced a photo gallery of what they considered to be the real champions.
These included only five champions of the eight classes (divisions) who were considered legitimate and in today’s climate deemed undisputed. One irony was that Michael Spinks at the time was recognised as The Ring heavyweight king even though Mike Tyson was the WBC champion and spectacularly taking all the headlines and plaudits. They were yet to meet.
Tyson’s victory in June 1988 in Atlantic City Convention Centre, bankrolled by then businessman and current US presidential candidate Donald Trump, was ultimately emphatic in a 91 second blowout of Spinks. Tyson was promptly crowned undisputed and The Ring champion.
The other divisional kings and that publication’s champions were ‘Marvelous’ Marvin Hagler at middleweight (160lbs/11st 6lbs), Lloyd Honeyghan at welterweight (147lbs/10st 7lbs), Antonio Esparragoza at featherweight (126lbs/9st) and Sot Chitalada at flyweight (112lbs/8st). The other four weight divisions had a #1 stated but The Ring title was declared vacant.
Project forward to today.
The Ring recognises 17 weight classes. Of those for the first time for many years – probably since 1987 – seven are undisputed and have a champion. The heaviest four weight classes from heavyweight (no limit) to super middleweight (168lbs/12st) all have a champion. This is a good sign for both hardcore and casual fans alike.
Even elite junior middleweight Terence Crawford, a four-weight beltholder/world champion, arguably the pound-for-pound #1 is not a Ring magazine champion at 154lbs. That’s how hard it is to get that honour !
Crawford has an impressive record of 41-0 (31 KOs) and is still looking unbeatable.
The respective records of The Ring champions are:
Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) – heavyweight
Jai Opetaia (26-0, 20 KOs) – cruiserweight (200lbs/14st 4lbs)
Artur Beterbiev (21-0, 20 KOs) – light heavyweight
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (62-2-2, 39 KOs) – super middleweight
Other Ring Magazine pound-for-pound entrants include Dmitry Bivol, Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Junto Nakatani and Devin Haney, who have a combined record of 133 wins with only 1 loss. Non however, currently hold the magazine’s title, which we consider remains the historical standard by which all world champions should ultimately be judged.
The seventeen weight divisions are another story, but they primarily serve to protect the fighters.
In today’s era of bigger human beings: with improved diets and many nourishment choices, it’s healthy to have a higher number of weight classes, with the differentials at lower limits more significant where % of total body weight is a crucial factor.
At the other end of the spectrum, no longer is a light heavyweight having to make the jump straight to an unlimited class. That would now be too dangerous, due simply to evolution of the human race.
To conclude, let’s celebrate the undisputed Ring Magazine champions but, the proliferation of weight classes are here to stay.
Artur Beterbiev celebrates becoming the world light-heavyweight king supreme.
At the end of the night and fight that mattered, Artur was simply better.
Some will argue ‘not’, some will say ‘just’, but we firmly believe the incoming WBC, IBF and WBO champion Artur Beterbiev won the fight and proved his superiority on the night.
Beterbiev raised his impressive record to 21-0 (20 KOs) and the incoming WBA champion Dmitry Bivol suffered his first defeat in his 24th fight at the Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
We promised you a fight of the year contender, and that’s just what we got !
Not your all-out slugfest with multiple knockdowns or one fighter coming back from the brink to prevail, but rather a technical and power-punching masterclass between two elite operators. It was ‘boxing chess’ but with seriously bad intentions.
The 36 minutes of action will live long in the memory and the resulting exchanges and outcome are crying out for an immediate rematch.
That will take some pulling together, but Saudi money and the will of the boxing hierarchy and powerbrokers will make it happen.
We made Beterbiev a clear winner, albeit by two-three rounds. We were closer to the third returned card of 116-112 that top trainer and boxing expert Teddy Atlas referred to as “absurd”. We couldn’t see that, but value and accept his judgement and rationale.
Other returned cards from the judges were a 114-114 draw and 115-113 in favour of Beterbiev, making the victory to him on a majority decision.
Like Atlas we gave the new undisputed champion the last two ‘championship’ rounds to secure the victory. We did though have him ahead going into those, witnessing him landing the heavier blows with the greater impact, controlling the pace of the fight from ring centre and being the more aggressive and accurate fighter throughout.
We knew that Bivol would attempt to control the tempo of the contest from the outside of the ring. This, he did at times, but although many, were fewer in the moments that mattered.
The 33 year old man from St. Petersburg was effective when he landed his heavy blows on the end of his long jab. He took the opening two rounds by imposing his game-plan immediately, but once Beterbiev worked his way into the fight he controlled its tempo and eventual outcome.
In our view Bivol just didn’t land as consistently and repetitively the heavy shots that Beterbiev did.
Neither fighter was rocked or over-troubled by the sorties that followed some of the most outstanding technical boxing you will witness.
Bivol’s greatest accomplishment was ensuring that in making the fight extremely competitive, he heard the final bell and halted Beterbiev’s up ’til then perfect KO record. This was rarely in doubt.
The 39 years of Beterbiev and his miniscus injury never became an issue as he lasted the hectic pace throughout.
The now undisputed world light-heavyweight champion, forever humble said post-fight “I feel not bad. I did not good today. I wanted to box today with more quality. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like this fight. But I’ll be better one day” He complimented Bivol’s grit, skills and effort, and finished .. “But today, Allah chose me”.
The defeated fighter was equally complimentary of his opponent and offered his congratulations and ended “He deserves it. No problem”.
Saturday was a credit to both fighters and the sport of boxing. It will also hopefully put to bed the flip-flopping of pronunciation of Artur’s surname. Me being one of the main culprits.
The bearded Dagestan Muslim was better and that should remove all doubt for the time being at least. Bivol goes on to fight another day with his reputation intact.
This Saturday (12 October) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia the match-up of the boxing year takes place. Two undefeated Russians with excellent amateur pedigrees will meet to determine the undisputed world light-heavyweight (12st, 7lbs/175lbs) champion.
Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) will bring the WBC, IBF and WBO belts to the ring, and Dimitry Bivol (23-0, 11 KOs) the WBA one, ultimately giving us our first undisputed champion since Roy Jones Jr. in June 1999.
Before then, Michael Spinks (above) was the only previous dominant 175 pounder way back in 1983 when the division was arguably at its most ‘hot’. Unifications here are rare and undisputed even more so.
The division, one of the original eight weight classes, used to be full of elite fighters who weren’t quite big enough for the heavyweights, but had no option but to campaign at 175lbs. The rollcall of great champions includes Ezzard Charles, ‘Ageless’ Archie Moore, Bob Foster, Matthew Saad Muhammad, the younger Spinks brother and Roy Jones Jr.
This is a ‘blue riband’ boxing weight category.
So, what can we expect Saturday ?
Beterbiev, at 39, from the former Soviet province of Dagestan on the Chechnyan border in the south of the Russian land mass, is a destructive box-puncher. Having had a tough upbringing under the Soviet system, being a former world champion, winning silver in London 2012 (his second Olympics) only then losing to current heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk, the bearded Beterbiev is ‘authentically tough’.
As a professional he has stand out victories against Britain’s Callum Johnson, Smith and Anthony Yarde, stopping them all inside the distance. He can be dropped, but he’s always done the stopping in the end !
He is an intimidating character inside the ring with a confident calmness outside of it. In boxing exile, fighting out of Montreal, Canada, he is excellently trained by Canadian Marc Ramsay, one of the best in the sport.
The fight was originally pencilled in for earlier in the year, but delayed by Beterbiev sustaining a number of injuries and having his knee reconstructed in the process. This could be a telling factor.
Bivol, 33, is of mixed Russian/Korean heritage from the province of Kyrgyzstan. He too had an excellent Soviet amateur schooling, but although younger, was not as decorated as his opponent. The tall orthodox fighter does though hold an undefeated record that includes he stellar name of Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, one of the modern greats.
The WBA champion has been flawless since winning the title in 2017 making 12 successful defences, and his win over ‘Canelo’ in May 2022 finally elevated him into the ‘SuperFight’ category and won him The Ring magazine 2022 Fighter of the Year.
Bivol is an excellent boxer and the more stylish of the two. He tends to box at range and probe to victory before unleashing his heavy artillery. Beterbiev, by contrast is equally talented, but likes to get amongst it by smothering his opponent with his work rate and power punches. Fighting him is likened to fighting someone in a phone booth.
The big questions as we approach first bell are; 1) How much has the injury record and ‘Father Time’ affected Beterbiev ? 2) What does he have left as he approaches the final years of his career ? 3) Will the intense pressure he will undoubtedly put on Bivol be too much for the Korean/Soviet ? 4) Can Bivol command Beterbiev’s respect early on and box his way to victory ? 5) Can the IBF champion really take a punch and Beterbiev’s power ?
It’s an intriguing matchup and as we point to has everything to be the Fight of 2024.
It will be shown in the UK on various platforms as a pay-per-view/box office option and in the USA on ESPN+. It is supported by an excellent undercard featuring Ring Magazine and world unified cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, promising British light-heavyweight Ben Whittaker, and world ranked middle/super-middleweight Chris Eubank Jr. It also features the heavyweight rematch between Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clarke, plus female WBC champion and Aussie Skye Nicholson.
It forms part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Season and is multi-promoted, including Top Rank Inc. and British-based outfits Queensberry, BOXXER and Matchroom Boxing.
With much hesitation, in the main event we predict a Beterbiev stoppage win late on. Enjoy the fireworks !
The first of a new feature of regular articles by esteemed South African boxing writer and historian Ron Jackson.
Famous old fight venues in London and South Africa
In the early years of British boxing there were many famous venues in London and amongst them was the famous Blackfriars Ring which was bombed down to the ground in the Second World War during the Blitz in October 1940.
The Ring was built as a Surrey Chapel in 1782 for the evangelical preacher Reverend Rowland Hill, and in the late 19th century it was occupied by an engineering company, and from 1910 it was used as a boxing venue.
The first fighter in The Ring in Blackfriars Road, Southwark back in 1783 was Reverend Rowland Hill who originally designed the building as a church so that he could fight the devil.
It is reported that that the unusual, circular design was that there would be no corners in which the devil could hide.
Many years later Dick Burge a former English middleweight champion was responsible for overseeing the chapel’s conversion to a boxing venue.
With his wife Bella’s support he rented the old circular chapel, which had fallen into disrepair and used as a warehouse.
Dick and Bella enlisted homeless people who cleaned out the building so that it could be used for boxing, which they opened on 14 May 1910.
Only four years after The Ring opened, The Great War erupted, and Dick enlisted but sadly he contracted pneumonia in 1918 and died shortly before the war ended.
However, Bella continued to run the boxing venue and she became the world’s first women boxing promoter.
In the late 1930’s with the clouds of the Second World War looming she ran into financial difficulties before the destruction of the venue.
Bella died at the age of 85 in 1962.
The bombed site was left abandoned until the 1960’s when a modern office block was built on the site, but by 1998 became derelict and replaced with modern building.
Right across the road where the original boxing arena stood is a pub named The Ring which hosts a collection of boxing memorabilia on its walls.
London also had several other famous boxing venues like The Harringay Arena, which was situated near Manor House, the scene of the first Freddie Mills vs Gus Lesnevich world light heavyweight title fight on 14 May 1946, with Mills being stopped in the tenth round. The arena could hold 11500 fans.
It was an almost ideal venue for boxing with banked terraces of seats surrounding the ring and above the ring were four huge clocks which timed the three-minute rounds and the one-minute intervals.
The old Wembley Arena holding 12500 fans was another wonderful structure with every spectator having a clear view of the ring. The only drawback was that it was situated on the outskirts of London.
The Empress Hall at Earl’s Court was also a fine venue for boxing, holding 10000 all under cover.
The Olympia was also a popular venue and the famous Royal Albert Hall with its lower and upper circles has been used for boxing until recently.
In London there were several other stadiums where big fights were held, including the White City Stadium and Wimbledon.
In many of the halls the seating was under cover and permanent so that that it would not involve the hiring of chairs other than transporting the ring and other appurtenances, which had to be done at the old Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg when boxing was the home of all big fights in South Africa.
Possibly the most famous boxing small hall is the York Hall in Bethnal Green situated on Old Ford Road which was opened in 1929 and is still in operation today.
In South Africa there have also been some memorable boxing venues like the Wembley Stadium in the south of Johannesburg which also included a speedway track.
In one of the biggest fights in the history of South African boxing the popular South African heavyweight champion Johnny Ralph was knocked out in the eighth round by the world light heavyweight champion Freddie Mills on 6 November 1948 at the Wembley Stadium.
The stadium was subsequently demolished and is now used as a bus depot.
Close by is the Wembley Indoor Arena in Turfontein Road which was formerly known as the Olympia Ice Rink where many famous fights were held.
Another popular venues in later years was the Ellis Park Tennis Courts in Johannesburg.
Tournaments were also held at the Johannesburg City Hall and smaller tournaments were held at the Selbourne Hall, and Drill Hall.
Amongst the other venues are the Uncle Toms Hall, Kwa/Thema Recreation Centre, Sebokeng Community Centre, and the Mdantsane Indoor Centre (East London), Feathermarket Hall (the then Port Elizabeth), Portuguese Hall, Durban Ice Rink and the Nasrec Indoor Arena.
Promoters also used the Durban, and Cape Town City Halls and on 29 April 1995 South Africa’s Vuyani Bungu who holds the record for the number of world title defences by a South African retained his IBF junior featherweight against Victor Llerena at the iconic FNB Stadium.
A little over a week on, the dust has finally settled from the drama that unfolded in the heavyweight division on the stacked Wembley Stadium card in London, England.
The IBF heavyweight title fight resulted in Britain’s Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois spectacularly retaining his title via a five-round demolition of fellow Londoner Anthony Joshua.
Dubois (22-2, 21 KOs) should continue to take all the praise, given where he’d come from with two earlier defeats and, he was a heavy betting underdog going in. The 27 year old from Greenwich, south London, came out from the opening bell full of confidence and intent and, after scoring a first knockdown of his opponent at the end of the opening round, never looked back. He ‘bossed’ his, ’til then more illustrious foe, from start to finish.
With exception of a temporary recovery from Joshua through rounds two to the eventual stoppage, Dubois was clearly the better man on the night. The counter right that finished the contest was one to behold and ranks as one of the more emphatic stoppages of recent times.
On the flip side, such was the nature of Dubois’ victory, scoring four knockdowns in the process, that media and fans questioned the point of a continuation of Joshua’s career in his attempt to gain another version of the ‘world’ heavyweight title for a third time.
This could see him join an elite historical fistic group, if he’s eventually successful.
More challenging for Joshua (28-4, 25 KOs) will be to rise from the heavyweight mix before contesting a belt again. In his credit he has wins over top ten ranked fighters (Joseph Parker, Andy Ruiz and Dillian Whyte) but his confidence and punch resistance in particular will need a serious re-build.
‘Hot on his heels’ are also rising British-based heavyweights Martin Bakole (21-1, 16 KOs) and 19-year old Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs). Plus, a plethora of other worthy world contenders.
The immediate future of the heavyweight division will be put on hold until 21 December. Being determined in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia when Ring Magazine champion and undoubted number one Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs) faces former WBC champion Tyson Fury (34-1-1, 24 KOs) for a second time. The latter will be motivated by the rematch opportunity, but was soundly beaten, albeit on points, in the first encounter. Watch this space for future updates on the build-up to this and the eventual outcome.
There’s no doubt to esteemed boxing writer Ron Jackson that former world class South African junior-featherweight Vuyani Bungu (39-6, 19 KOs) deserves to be in the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHoF), at Canastota, upstate New York, USA.
In support of this Ron points out:-
Bungu, the former IBF ‘world’ champion, domestically won more King Korn/Boxing World awards than any other South African fighter. He was voted their Boxer of the Year in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 1998.
His fights against Jesus Salud and Kennedy McKinney were also named their Fight of the Year in 1996 and 1997. He subsequently received a Special Award in 1995.
Overall, his backstory, record and achievements were outstanding ones.
Only two South Africans, referee Stan Christodoulou and two-belt ‘world’ champion Brian Mitchell, are currently inducted into the IBHoF. Bungu deserves to be the third.
Bungu’s story
This brilliant fighter was born in Duncan Village near East London in South Arica’s Eastern Cape, at the foot of the continent, on February 26, 1967.
His family moved to Mdantsane shortly afterwards, where many residents came to know him as “The Beast” and where he developed into one of the best boxers to come out of South Africa.
It is not clear why he was nicknamed “The Beast” because he never fought like a beast and never acted like one outside the ring.
One of six children who grew up poor, little Vuyani sometimes went to school without anything to eat.
During an interview on the SA SuperSport programme Punchline he told how he would take a plastic bag with a stone inside to school, where he would turn his back on his friends and pretend to eat bread from the bag.
His father suffered from asthma and his mother, Lilian, who was employed as a domestic hand, just managed to keep the family of eight alive in their two-roomed house, without water or electricity.
Vuyani learnt to box in a gymnasium at school in Mdantsane. There was only one punch bag, but his loyal trainer was Mzimasi Mnguni.
Mnguni was his manager and trainer throughout his career. He bought Bungu his first suit and gave him money to buy food for his family.
Their relationship seemed to turn sour about 20 years later when it was reported that Bungu, who had allegedly earned more than R10 million (Rand) between 1994 and 2005, was broke.
He reportedly denied that he had made so much money and blamed the taxman and Mnguni for his financial problems.
It was claimed that Bungu sometimes fought without signing contracts and not knowing how much he would be paid. But it was also reported that he lived lavishly.
After building up an impressive amateur record of 77 wins against 8 losses (some reports said he won 108 and lost 20) Bungu made his professional debut on April 26, 1967. He knocked out Xolela Makhuluma in the fourth round in Mdantsane and was paid R34.
He had left the Nyameko High School in the ninth grade to pursue his boxing career.
After winning four of his next five fights inside the distance, Bungu won the Cape Province junior featherweight title when he outpointed Sexon Ngqayimbana over ten rounds in June 1988.
He won his next six fights, including five defences of the Cape title, before suffering his first defeat. It came in August 1989 when he challenged hard-hitting Fransie Badenhorst for the SA featherweight title in Cape Town.
Bungu was knocked down three times but fought back. Badenhorst was bleeding and down in the seventh round. However, Bungu did not keep up the pressure and it cost him the fight.
In a return fight in East London in May 1990, Bungu was a clear winner and became the SA junior featherweight champion.
Marching towards the IBF title
He made five successful defences and received an Old Buck (national) belt before relinquishing the title when he won IBF junior featherweight belt.
On his way to the title, he stumbled only once. It happened in April 1992 when he fought American southpaw Freddie Norwood in Trievelo, Italy. Norwood, undefeated after 15 bouts, outpointed the South African over eight rounds.
Bungu won his next four fights inside the distance before challenging highly rated American Kennedy McKinney for the IBF junior featherweight belt. They met at the Carousel Casino at Hammanskraal, near Pretoria, on August 20, 1994.
McKinney was an outstanding amateur who won the bantamweight gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. He won the IBF belt from South African Welcome Ncita and made five successful defences.
The American, rated as one of the best fighters in the world pound-for-pound, was comprehensively outpointed by the unheralded Bungu, who produced one of the finest performances in a world title fight by a South African.
Roller-coaster ride
The bout started a roller-coaster ride for the new champion, who made 13 defences of the belt. This was a record by a South African, eclipsing the one he had shared with Brian Mitchell.
However, there were good and bad performances during that time. In his fist defence, against US-based Puerto Rican Felix Camacho, Bungu had problems with his opponent’s southpaw style but won easy enough.
In 1995, he retained the belt by beating Mohamed Nurhuda (Indonesia), Victor Llerena (Colombia) and Laureano Ramirez (Dominican Republic), all on points.
The next year he beat American John Lewis in Biloxi, Mississippi, before returning to his favourite venue at Hammanskraal to stop Colombian Pablo Osuna in the twelfth round and outpointing Jesus Salud from the Philippines.
In April 1997, in a return match with Kennedy McKinney, Bungu won by split decision in a 12-rounder that the McKinney camp thought their man had won.
Bungu had two more fights in 1997, beating Enrique Jupiter from Mexico and Arnel Barotillo from the Philippines on points.
On May 16 the next year, back at the Carousel, Bungu was below his best when he beat Colombian challenger Ernesto Grey on another split decision.
Back to his best in Atlantic City
Bungu was back to his best in October 1998 when he defeated former IBF flyweight and junior bantamweight champion Danny Romero in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. In retaining his belt for the twelfth time, he proved he was the best junior featherweight in the world.
Bungu was given less than a 50-50 chance of beating Romero, but after his fine performance there was talk of him facing ‘Prince’Naseem Hamed for the WBO ‘world’ featherweight belt.
However, Bungu first had to defend his IBF title against the mandatory challenger, Victor Llerena from Colombia.
On a memorable night, February 6, 1999, Bungu retained the belt for a record 13th time when Llerena failed to come out for the eighth round after taking a pounding from the champion.
The fight against Naseem
After the fight it was announced that Bungu was relinquishing the IBF title to challenge Hamed.
It took more than a year to finalise the bout. Bungu remained inactive before travelling to London to face Naseem on March 11, 2000.
The fight, regarded as one of the biggest in the history of SA boxing, was arranged by Rodney Berman’s Golden Gloves group, with Berman at the head of the contracted negotiations.
However, Bungu was never in the fight, attended by 10,000 spectators. His dream was shattered in 13 minutes and 38 seconds when he was knocked out in the fourth round.
The Bungu who fought Naseem was not the fighter his admirers knew.
Ron Jackson was with Bungu in London at the time and, travelling in the bus with him from his apartment in Lancaster Gate, it was clear to Jackson that the occasion was too big for him. Bungu began unravelling long before he entered the ring.
Hamed; as was his style, made a magnificent entrance into the arena, coming in on a flying carpet and somersaulting over the ropes. He even took the microphone from famed ring announcer Michael Buffer to address the crowd before the bell.
Bungu’s helpers shielded their man from his opponent. Ron felt he should have stood in the centre of the ring and eyeballed his opponent as he had done at the pre-fight press conference and at the weigh-in.
Fading from the scene
Bungu soon began fading from the scene, but did not officially announce his retirement.
About 16 months later, he returned to fight fellow-South African Lehlohonolo Ledwaba for the vacant WBU featherweight belt, but was well beaten over 12 rounds.
After an absence of ten months, on May 31, 2003, Bungu beat Takalani Ndlovu over ten rounds in an eliminator for an IBO featherweight title fight.
In a return match, in February the next year, they fought for the vacant title. Bungu beat Ndlovu on split decision to become a two-time “world” champion.
On June 25, 2005 he put up a brave performance against Thomas Mashaba but lost on points over 12 rounds to lose his IBO belt.
This was to be his last fight. He retired with a record of 39 wins and 6 losses, winning 19 bouts inside the distance. His story was a real fight from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of his sport. It should be celebrated and his achievements recognised further.
Below is an article as written after the fight on the above date.
Re-posted now in the lead-up to another big Wembley Stadium boxing event to whet the appetite.
On an evening of high emotion and extreme patriotism Britain’s Frank Bruno succeeded in his fourth attempt at gaining a version of the World Heavyweight Championship.
That it was gained some five miles from Bruno’s birthplace and at the hands of WBC champion Oliver McCall, whose victory over Lennox Lewis stunned the British boxing public a year earlier, was the icing on the cake.
The nationalistic scenes on the announcement of the … ‘New Heavyweight Champion…’ rivalled anything shown in recent months on the 50th anniversary of the ending of World War II.
The joint Don King/Frank Warren three-title fight card was the biggest ever show in England, befittingly staged at the country’s national sports stadium.
For thirteen years British ‘institution’ and perennial contender Frank Bruno has tried and failed to climb the peak of this profession. The paying public have endured the disappointments as if he were their own kinfolk. This coupled with the ridicule of some US trade magazines made the night in the end sweeter.
Fireworks, a laser show portraying the familiar British landmarks and, Nigel Benn carrying the Union ‘Jack’ accompanied a focussed Franklin Bruno MBE down a lofty floodlit ramp into the ring.
The fight transpired ………to the final round, with the following conclusion :–
Amid utter bedlam at ringside the champion failed to maintain the momentum at the start of the final round. After rising late, McCall merely pushed a desperate Bruno onto the ropes at which point he was smothered for most of the round. By now the champion was looping right hands in hope rather than expectation. Two minutes into the round Bruno managed to distance himself from his pursuer, showing real grit as he landed more scoring jabs. On the sound of the final bell the stadium went into a state of euphoria as the decision was beyond doubt. The miniature Union Jacks provided at ringside fluttered endlessly to await the final decision. For the record, the scoring was unanimous as the Brazilian and Mexican judges posted 117-111, and the Australian a closer 115-113.
On its announcement ticker-tape filled the air and a Busby headed Guards Band struck up Edward Elgar’s ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ augmented by the jubilant voices of the crowd.
The victory improved Bruno’s record to 40-4 (38 KOs) and the former champion McCall fell to 26-6 (18 KOs). In the post-fight interview the new champion was overcome with emotion.
He explained through tear filled eyes that if he’d won £10 million it would not mean more than this moment. He described McCall as ‘very tough’ and thanked everyone from the Queen to Don King !
Once the dust had settled the following day’s news announced Bruno would fight on, and meet Mike Tyson in an $100 million re-match.
Footnote: Bruno would go onto lose his title in his first defence to Mike Tyson in Las Vegas ( March 1996) and would retire, never fighting professionally again. He remains a ‘National treasure’. McCall was provisionally suspended post-fight for failing to provide a sample for drug analysis and would later go onto lose (February 1997) to Lennox Lewis in a rematch with him.
Japanese multi-weight king Naoya Inoue takes a further step to greatness.
One look at the junior-featherweight (122lbs/8st, 10lb) Ring Magazine ratings shows it’s only a question of time before ‘The Monster’ Naoya Inoue (28-0,25 KOs) steps up to attempt to conquer a fifth weight class.
Within 18 months he’s almost cleaned out the division.
First up, in July 2023, was previously undefeated ‘world’ champion Stephen Fulton, followed by IBF champion Marlon Tapales that December, and finally, Luis Nery to unify all the titles in May 2024. All were stopped inside schedule. This was Inoue’s second undisputed world championship, with various world sanctioning body titles in the other two. He was though considered the king in all four.
To illustrate the quality of the defeated junior-featherweight opposition, all still have a combined record of 94 wins with only 7 defeats and, been retained in The Ring top six in that weight class.
Finally, on Tuesday in Tokyo, he forced Irishman T J Doheny to lose, an up until then competitive fight, in the seventh on a strange injury sustained to his right leg. Doheny appeared to take a punch to his hip and as he came off the ropes his leg gave way, causing the referee to wave it over.
The ending was a surprise, but given the sustained pressure and power punching the challenger consumed in the sixth and early seventh round, a stoppage may have been on the cards further down the stretch.
This was Inoue’s ninth consecutive world championship stoppage.
Doheny, who entered the fight at #7 in The Ring ratings, is unlikely to drop his stock significantly. However, a re-match will not happen.
‘The Monster’ Inoue, age 31, from Kanagawa near Yokohama, has looked beyond compare in all four already conquered weight classes. He is well on the way to legendary status.
Top Rank Boxing Chairman and hall-of-fame promoter Bob Arum, no stranger to hyperbole, recently referred to Inoue as the best fighter he’s seen. On current evidence and achievement this is hard to argue against, even given the rich seam of talent Arum has mined and promoted over his 60+ years in the boxing business.
The Japanese’ has already shown he is a generational talent.
Four pounds up at featherweight (126lbs/9st) the ‘world’ titles are split, with no dominant champion. England’s Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs), the WBA champion, possibly with greatest potential. A further appearance by Inoue in the U.K is an option, after his Scottish sortie in 2019.
Mexico’s Rey Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KO’s) has the greatest power and best resume, and a contest against him would be equally lucrative. Hopefully the draw of the U.K both financially and from a legacy aspect will tempt Inoue to those shores when he does inevitably step up in weight.
For the time being Bob Arum has hinted at a further defence in Japan in December, followed by a visit to U.S in 2025 for a “..big celebration in Las Vegas”. We wait in anticipation, but a move up to the featherweight division seems inevitable.
Tomorrow UK lunchtime (Sept 3), live from Tokyo, Japan, ‘The Monster’ returns !
Ring Magazine 2023 Fighter of the Year and four-weight world champion Naoya Inoue defends his undisputed junior-featherweight (122 pounds/8st, 8lbs) title against former IBF champion T J Doheny from Ireland.
The 31 year old Japanese, Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs), is a modern-day boxing phenomenon who transcends the sport in the Far East and is also ranked Ring Magazine pound-for-pound #1. The considered ‘best is the business’.
Last time out, he sold out the 40,000 Tokyo Dome for a boxing first time since ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson v James ‘Buster’ Douglas back in February 1990. Inoue emphatically stopped previous belt champion Luis Nery to become a four-weight divisional world champion. Two of those being undisputed.
Tomorrow’s fight is in the smaller Ariake Arena, a Tokyo 2020 Olympic venue. It’s the sheer staging of an Inoue fight that means he has to revert to the smaller venue this time, plus, the need for a ‘SuperFight’ against a more decorated or dangerous opponent. If the Yokohama phenomenon remains undefeated, which is expected, that is sure to come.
Doheny, (26-4, 20 KOs) a good southpaw, but aged 37, is likely to be outgunned by the hard-hitting Inoue. Probably emphatically, sometime before the 7th round.
‘The Monster’ machine should keep rolling on on as he continues to move through the divisions in the lighter weight classes. He has so far won ‘world’ titles from light-flyweight (108lbs/7st, 10lbs) up to his current top registered fighting weight. How far can he go ? is the big question…
Catch it tomorrow if you can. The majority of this Top Rank Inc. co-promoted card will be shown live on Sky Sports for most of Tuesday morning through to the lunchtime highlight main event.
Inoue is not to be missed and although he should come through convincingly, with boxing one never knows ! Enjoy.
This regular feature is to also raise awareness of the Ringside Charitable Trust.
The Undisputed 