Siyakholwa Kuse worked out shortly before heading to the prefight medical on Tuesday morning ahead of his WBC minimumweight title challenge against Melvin Jerusalem at Emperors Palace on Saturday night.
Trainer Manny Fernandes took his fighter’s pulse and what he got was the exact type of confirmation he wanted to hear — a rate of 44.
“What does that tell you?” he said after the fighters scheduled to appear on the Golden Gloves bill had weighed in.
Kuse is clearly fit and ready for this rematch, looking to reverse his points defeat to Jerusalem in Manila, Philippines, in October last year.
But the champion is also up for this.
Both men, who tipped the scale at under 50kg, are on track to make the 47.6kg limit come the official weigh-in on Friday.
It’s the mark of a great champion. He knows what he is up against, he’s prepared to come to South Africa
— Rodney Berman on Jerusalem
They may be going to war in professional boxing’s lightest division, but this fight brought an extra crackle of electricity to the pre-fight press conference.
The last time a South African challenged for a WBC title was back in September 2000, when Dingaan Thobela stopped Glenn Catley in the final round to take the strap.
It’s been a green-belt drought since then, apart from Kevin Lerena who defended his bridgerweight belt in Pretoria a year ago, winning on a third-round technical knockout to score the quickest WBC title fight in the country.
Pierre Fourie lost his 15-round shot against Bob Foster in December 1973.
Nobody is expecting an early night on Saturday.
“It’s the mark of a great champion,” promoter Rodney Berman said in a tribute to Jerusalem. “He knows what he is up against, he’s prepared to come to South Africa.”
Berman, who started promoting in 1977, rates Vuyani Bungu’s 12-round win over American Kennedy McKinney for the IBF junior-featherweight crown as the greatest win by a South African in South Africa during his tenure.
Other big fights he mentioned were Namibian Harry Simon’s victory over Winky Wright for the WBO junior-middleweight title in 1998, Hawk Makepula’s win over Baby Jake Matlala in 2000 and Phillip Ndou’s triumph over Cassius Baloyi in 2001.
The South African people are going to see one of the best fights in a South African ring. It’s a fight for the purists
— Rodney Berman
Kuse-Jerusalem would be up there, he added. “The South African people are going to see one of the best fights in a South African ring. It’s a fight for the purists.”
In their first clash Kuse worked hard in the early rounds, but faded over the final four.
Both champion and challenger spoke briefly on Tuesday, leaving it to the undercard fighters, especially the heavyweights, to promise destruction.
JJ Alberts takes on Akani Phuzi and Jose Kadima faces Johnny Muller.
Berman’s partner Nivi Grogur promised an all-African heavyweight explosion tournament at the end of the year, suggesting that good performances on Saturday could earn invitations to that.
Tyla Promnick takes on Thobela Nyanda for the South African women’s mini-flyweight title, but the national junior-welterweight title has been pulled from the contest between former junior-lightweight titleholder, Sibusiso Zingange, and the former holder of the belt, Ntethelelo Nkosi, who was nearly 10kg overweight.
They will fight at catchweight over 10 rounds instead.
The tournament will be broadcast live by SuperSport on DStv channel 209 from 7pm on Saturday.
TimesLIVE
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