Underdog Chauke set for uphill battle

Oscar Chauke’s camp may have talked big during the press conference for tomorrow’s IBF junior featherweight elimination clash against homeboy Jeffrey Mathebula at Carnival City in Brakpan, but that has not stopped him becoming the underdog.

Besides having an edge in the quality of opponents faced, Mathebula has also been much more active having fought 18 rounds compared to Chauke’s six over the same period.

Chauke’s real action was his Fight-of-the-Year honours with current IBF champion Takalani Ndlovu way back in March 2009 and since then he has had three bouts which only took a combined total of six rounds.

Mathebula also had three bouts in the same period but gained better action in a tough fight coincidentally against Ndlovu . This ended in a controversial split decision loss last September.

Before the Ndlovu fight, Chauke (27-5-2, 10 KOs) was never really considered a world beater even after lifting the lightly regarded WBF junior featherweight crown with a dominant fifth-round stoppage of power-punching Wonga Mhlana in 2007.

Even before his beat-down of Mhlana, his management did not really have confidence in him pulling off the victory.

Cowed by Mhlana’s scary knockout ratio, which included victims in the junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight divisions, Chauke’s manager Manny Fernandez admitted that he was reluctant to pit his charge against the East London bomber who had knocked out all his 12 victims against a single loss.

“I hear this guy is knocking out people from junior featherweight up to junior lightweight division, so it might not be such a good idea for Chauke to face him,” Fernandez then told this scribe.

Before the offer to face Mhlana, Chauke had just scraped through with a razor-thin majority points victory ove0r unheralded Luyanda Mrawuli, who was said to be Mhlana’s punch bag in sparring sessions.

But when told that Mhlana lacked basic technique which Chauke abundantly possesses, Fernandez reluctantly took the bout and the competitiveness of the clash quickly evaporated in the very first round when Chauke overwhelmed Mhlana with laser sharp missiles. So much so, that the fight deteriorated into a horrible mismatch.

Despite that dominant victory, Chauke was still considered a fringe fighter whose career would amount to nothing more than the WBF title he held.

But his slugfest with Ndlovu changed the perception detractors had of him as a fighter with top local promoter Branco Milenkovic publicly announcing he was signing him to his overflowing kraal of fighters.

However, his defeat by Ndlovu meant that he was to be lower in the pecking order even than Mathebula who got first bite at a world title in his aborted challenge to Panamanian Celestino Caballero for the WBA/IBF crowns.

Chauke was left to face three unheralded foes who only garnered him six rounds of action combined and that could haunt him tomorrow.

With Mathebula having already beaten him in their 2007 clash, the outcome does not promise to be any different.

Also featured on tomorrow’s card promoted by recently crowned IBF Promoter of the Year, Branco Milenkovic, is the IBF female welterweight title clash between holder New Zealander Daniella Smith and Noni Thenge.