Johannesburg – Newly-crowned IBO featherweight champion Simphiwe Vetyeka is negotiating for a blockbuster unification bout against WBA champion and Indonesian national hero, Chris John.
This was revealed on Friday by Nick Durandt, the 27-year-old South African fighter's trainer and manager.
Vetyeka captured his second IBO title in Jakarta, Indonesia, last week with a stunning 12th-round tko win over highly-regarded defending champion Daud Cino Yordan.
While reports from Indonesia had stated that Yordan was well ahead on points before succumbing to Vetyeka's torrent of punches in the last round, Durandt debunked the claims.
“All three judges had Simphiwe in front at the time, and by as much as eight points in one instance,” Durandt said.
John, who remains the longest-serving champion in world boxing after holding the WBA title for more than 10 years, maintained his record after securing a technical draw decision against Japan's Satoshi Hosono on the same bill in Jakarta.
The fight was stopped in the third round after John had suffered two deep head cuts in the opening rounds.
The presence of the iconic John on the Jakarta bill had resulted in a crowd of more than 60 000 attending the tournament at the Bung Karno Stadium.
“The promoters of Sunday's tournament were so impressed with Vetyeka that they approached me and mooted the possibility of a Vetyeka-John unification bout,” Durandt said.
“If it materialises, it will undoubtedly be the highpoint of Simpiwe's career, not only because of the big money that would be involved, but also because he would be presented with the opportunity of annexing a WBA title – something no South African has done for a long time.”
But Durandt emphasised that whether a John fight materialised or not, the back-in-favour Vetyeka would not find himself “in cold storage” as happened when he gained his first IBO title by beating the seasoned Eric September at Emperors Palace.
“After he became the IBO bantamweight champion, Simpiwe was not afforded the opportunity of fighting for 18 months and was eventually stripped of his title through no fault of his own,” Durandt said.
“I'll see to it this does not happen again, with two South African promoters already having approached me to stage a voluntary title defence in the near future.” – Sapa