CASSIUS BALOYI vs MZONKE FANA

Cassius Baloyi and Mzonke Fana, well-matched South African veterans, meet in a rematch for the vacant IBF junior lightweight title on a big show at the Carnival City resort on Wednesday. With four competitive, world-class fights on the bill this is one of the strongest South African shows in recent memory.
 
Baloyi, 35, beat Fana on a majority decision two years ago. One judge had the fight even but the other two scored widely in favour of Baloyi.
 
Fana, 36, has boxed just twice since the first fight, winning by stoppage each time. Baloyi has won two of three bouts since the first meeting, losing on a seventh-round stoppage to Malcolm Klassen, the third of South Africa’s Big Three in the junior lightweight class — and Fana holds a closely scored win over Klassen.
 
Baloyi won his last fight in good style, easily outscoring the Argentinean veteran Roberto Arrieta. He couldn’t put the trial horse down, though, although Arrieta had a point deducted for holding. The win could be considered disappointing, considering that Robert Guerrero slammed Arrieta out of the fight in eight rounds just five months later, a mismatch in which the Argentinean veteran was dropped three times.
 
Fana looked sharp in his last fight when breaking down and stopping Jasper Seroka in six rounds, but although Seroka was South African champion and had won 12 bouts in a row he isn’t on the same level as the trio of Baloyi, Fana and Klassen.
 
Although Baloyi and Fana are both long-serving fighters I think that Fana might be a little fresher. In the last fight, Baloyi won the early rounds but Fana came on quite strongly from the sixth round and the last few rounds were apparently very hard fought.
 
There were signs in Baloyi’s fight with Klassen that his career might be winding down. Klassen overwhelmed him with pressure. Although Fana lost by second-round knockout against Marco Antonio Barrera in a dismal showing six years ago I don’t think he has been in nearly as many wars as Baloyi.
 
If Fana can start faster this time, he can win, but if Baloyi keeps him off with hard punches and dictates the early tempo, the way he did in the first fight, we will be looking a similar result to last time, with Fana unable to make up the leeway. Each man is competent and each can hurt the other. The winner will be the one who has more left at this stage in his career or perhaps simply has the greater desire for victory. As the winner last time, I think Baloyi has to be considered the favourite, but I’m swaying a little towards Fana turning the tables.