New WBC champ Siyakholwa Kuse will defend title at home, says promoter

Siyakholwa Kuse will defend his newly won World Boxing Council (WBC) minimumweight title at home at least once before seeking a unification bout, promoter Rodney Berman says.

He was speaking soon after Kuse produced an impressive display of counter-punching boxing to dethrone Filipino Melvin Jerusalem with a unanimous decision at Emperors Palace on Saturday night.

Before the bout Berman had spoken about the winner going into a unification against Oscar Collazo of Puerto Rico, who holds the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) titles.

“My obligation is not to put him into a fight of that magnitude yet. I want him to have a defence here in South Africa and take it from there,” said the promoter.

“This is one of the great fights seen in this country,” he added, rating it up there with Vuyani Bungu’s 1994 win over Kennedy McKinney for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior-featherweight title and Harry Simon’s triumph over Winky Wright for the WBO junior-middleweight strap in 1998.

The fight was fairly even for the first half, during which the champion tried to counter the South African, darting in and out with single punches.

He made Kuse miss quite a lot, but trainer Manny Fernandes told his charge in the corner to stop throwing hooks, which were falling short, and rather channel straight punches.

And that made a world of difference. As the fight moved into the halfway mark, the challenger knew it was his to lose.

“By round six I knew I’d got it now because I was catching him with some jabs and straight rights.”

From round seven Kuse dominated, even after he was briefly dropped in the 11th round. “I knew I was not dizzy; I’m still alright.”

Kuse lost his first challenge against Jerusalem in Manila in October on a narrow points decision, but he reckoned the champion was just as prepared this time around.

“He was good, and he was ready, but me too, I was ready.”

For now, father-of-one Kuse, who turns 27 on Tuesday, is looking forward to heading home in Mdantsane, KuGompo City, to celebrate his victory with family and friends.

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