ABP set to close year with Sandton Mayhem spectacle

Kevin Lerena’s fledgling Aquila Boxing Promotions (ABP) has lived up to their promise of hosting four tournaments annually and are looking to close the year with a bang with this weekend’s Sandton Mayhem bill.

Headlined by Kaine Fourie’s challenge for the vacant IBO intercontinental lightweight title against Argentina’s Claudio Gabriel Daneff, the tournament promises fireworks, with some stellar match-ups on the undercard.

Speaking at the pre-tournament media conference at The Galleria Events Venue on Tuesday, Lerena said fight fans can anticipate thrilling bouts given the calibre of fighters in action on Saturday evening.

“Expect fireworks because we have exciting prospects going against each other on the undercard, and the main and co-main events are terrific match-ups,” the WBC bridgerweight champion said, advising all fighters to treat their bouts ‘like it is your last fight because it could be your last. "There’s been no cherry-picking.

"Lindo (Khuzwayo) is an explosive fighter, and his opponent for the ten-rounder IBO All Africa featherweight title, Nigerian Rilwal Lawal, is a great fighter. We are in for rough fights."

Lerena admitted it had been a mission putting the bill together, given the need to bring in a few internationals, including referees and officials. But his commitment to improving the sport in the country meant he was willing to pull out all the stops.

“I believe we can always do better as boxing people and that there is room for improvement. A lot of people are doing their best to lift the sport, and our belief at ABP is that we’ve just got to focus on what we do to help take the sport on an upward trajectory.

"We’ve had sold-out shows with great fighters, and we are running our own race as a promotions company. We are not competing with anyone, and I believe that if everyone focuses on what they do, that’s how we will lift the sport up.”

For that reason, Lerena said ABP will not be signing boxers to their stable but will rather allow them to fight under different promoters.

“We can only host four tournaments in a year, and we want the fighters to be free to fight under other promoters because that way they get more opportunities.”

Kaine Fourie has set his sights on challenging for a world title in the near future and knows that stopping the wily Argentinian will set him up for that dream. The man fondly referred to as K9 has made a fantastic comeback from his March defeat to Simon Ngoma by beating both Sifiso Hlongwane (June) and Oumpie Sibeko (August).

All those fights were at The Galleria, where he enjoys an immense following, and he should have the same support this weekend, giving him more ammunition to send Daneff into an early slumber.

The undercard boasts a couple of clashes between unbeaten young fighters, with the six-rounder between Luke Hendricks and Sabelo Ndlovu particularly promising to be a thrill-a-minute affair as Lerena’s ABP continues to build its reputation as a promotions company of great tournaments.