Golden Gloves

Golden Gloves matchmaker Ruben Rosodi may be joking in this picture, but he was very serious when he warned Johnny Muller, right, to be at his best against Ronnie Lategan, left, on Tuesday night

Golden Gloves will conclude the boxing year with a Christmas cracker on Tuesday night with a South African title fight headlining a seven-bout bill at Emperors Palace.

Ronnie Lategan will fight Johnny Muller in a 12-rounder for the SA light-heavyweight belt, although the pick of the action could be the eight round junior-lightweight clash between Joey Stiglingh and Warren Joubert. Both come to fight and with bragging rights on offer, it could be explosive.

Stiglingh is unbeaten in nine outings, while Joubert is desperate to pick up the pieces after his debilitating loss for the SA title against Sipho Taliwe.
Ashley Dlamini is always up for a fight and looked sharp in sparring last week. He goes up against Raymond Bloem in a six-rounder.

Punters won’t want to miss the second fight of the night. Brian Mitchell will be in the corner of Alexander Jonker – and with good reason. “He’s a fantastic talent,” said Mitchell, “and won everything that could be won in the amateurs.”

The lightweight is said to be over his hand problems, but he’ll be tested against Thulani Majola. Is he worth the hype? We’ll soon know.

There’s been some stinging banter between the camps (and fans) of Rita Mwrebi and Shayvonne Pattison, who open the fight card in a welterweight four-rounder. The jury is still out on women’s boxing in South Africa, suffice to say that the fight has already drawn sufficient interest to have justified making the match.

Boxing starts at 7.30pm.