Local boxing trainer John "Smoking Joe" Nemakonde says he has signed one of the most gifted boxers in the country, who he believes is going to take this sport to greater heights in the not-too-distant future. He was referring to up-and-coming pugilist Mulweli "Mr Knockout" Rasalanavho.
Speaking to Limpopo Mirror after a gruelling training session at the gym recently, Nemakonde said Rasalanavho had left his stable in 2018 to join the Limpopo Boxing Academy to get more fights in the amateur ranks.
"This boy will bring back the glory days of boxing, when Phillip Ndou and Cassius Baloyi were still fighting. He has both Ndou' s punching powers and the slippery skills of Baloyi. He is not called 'Mr Knockout' for nothing," he said.
Rasalanavho has a reputation for knocking his opponents out cold in the ring. He told this newspaper that he had lost 8 out of 97 fights in the amateur ranks. Of the 89 fights he had won, 70 were knockouts. "Even though I always intend to go the distance with my opponents, I usually knock them out cold in the first round. I hit as hard and fast as my childhood boxing idol, former world champion Phillip Ndou."
Rasalanavho said he first started his boxing career under Nemakonde when he was much younger. "He knows my strengths and weaknesses, and that is why I came back to where it all started."
He is confident that he will be a South African boxing champion within a year.