PRINCE DEDICATES FIGHT TO HIS NAMESAKE

JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT:Dlomo to throw punches for late boxing great Arthur Mayisela

By Pule Mokhine

Soweto’s only boxing champion and idol  Sibusiso “ Prince” Dlomo  has put his head on the block by proclaiming that he will win his next  fight and dedicate the  victory to his late namesake Arthur “ Fighting Prince” Mayisela.

Dlomo, who hails from Mzimhlophe  Hostel  in Soweto, is the only current national title holder in  the  sprawling township.  He will put his SA junior welterweight belt on the line against Siseko Makeleni from Eastern Cape at Booysens Gymnasium, Johannesburg next Sunday.

Soweto has never had a charismatic fighter like Mayisela, who held the same national championship belt  and defended it successfully on six occasions in the 1980’s. Fighting Prince earned the moniker because of the impressive manner by which he dished out punishment to his foes in the ring. He was destined to have a crack at the glorious world diadem before he passed tragically in 1986.Sadly, Mayisela departed  this world after being knocked out by a car on the side of the road in Johannesburg while trying to fix  the tyre of his own car.

That was the end of an era  as well as the moment that dashed the hopes of many boxing fans  who looked up to the Fighting Prince  –  the man who put Soweto of the map with his fists during that era – to bring them glory inside the boxing ring,

Among some of the most notable bouts that Mayisela had during an illustrious career,  was an  epic clash in which he -defeated the then-fancied  white  hope,   Harold “ The Hammer” Volbrecht  by clear points for their SA welterweight clash at Sun City in the same year prior his death (1986). However, the outcome of that encounter was ruled a technical draw by the now-late referee Alf Buqwana  –  thus depriving Mayisela of a clear-cut win. Soweto and the entire country’s entire boxing fraternity went beserk at the decision.

So Dlomo (36) wants to keep the spirit of the Meadowlands-born Fighting Prince alive by dedicating his wins to ‘”my late hero”.

“I was given the nickname Prince by my fans  because I fight the same way  as Mayisela used to. I used to follow him when I was still  young, hence I copied him. I wish to dedicate my fight against Makeleni to Arthur’s memory,” says Dlomo.

Dlomo, who was born in Pietermaritzburg but now lives with his father and sister in Soweto , believes he will beat Makeleni hands down and  keep the crown in “Soweto where it belongs”

“ I believe Soweto has  never had a national champion in my division in a long time since William Gare from Meadowlands won the belt in 1999 by defeating David Potsane. Gare made nine successful defences