Will they go for big money with the Knockout Clock? Boxers have their say
Aquila Boxing Promotions’ Knockout Chaos series introduces the Knockout Clock, offering cash incentives for early knockouts, sparking varied reactions from fighters eager to showcase their skills and secure bonuses. Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
While many fights in boxing can end up being drawn out, tactically defensive displays— a new innovation from Aquila Boxing Promotions (ABP) in their Knockout Chaos series starting this weekend in Sandton—promises to shape up the sport.
The series, aptly named Knockout Chaos, offers a cash incentive called the ‘Knockout Clock’ for a knockout (KO). If the knockout comes in round one, the fighter will receive a R30,000 bonus. Every round after that, the bonus will decrease by R5,000.
It means the fighters will have a huge temptation to come out firing if they want to bag the biggest bonus possible.
However, some of the more experienced fighters, like 38-year-old Thabiso Mchunu, say he won’t look for a knockout against Namibian Kareb Shitana in their cruiserweight bout.
What the fighters had to say about the Knockout Clock
The slightly nervous 18-year junior lightweight Alexander Meyer ahead of his bout with Msawakhe Mncwabe said after a slight pause: “We’ll see in the ring.”
Mncwabe responded by saying: “We have to set a good example, we’ll have to turn it up.”
In the super welterweight there was some fighting words from Simnikiwe Bongco ahead his match-up with Ntanganedzeni Mohane.
Bongco declared: “As soon as he blinks, it’s lights out.”
Meanwhile, Tiisetso Matikinca gave a prediction for his bantamweight clash with Sabelo Cebekhulu in the only eight-round bout of the evening.
“I’m not really focussing on the knockout, people are saying this is a test fight for me, people are saying this guy will give me a problem. I don’t see it like that. It’s either I finish it in the second round, if that doesn’t happen it will give me a chance to showcase my skill.”
In the super middleweight encounter Mxolisi Lahlliwe laid down the challenge for Gary van Staden. “I’m here. I’m not afraid. I’m going to challenge you and I’m looking forward to it. I’m not looking for R30,000. I’m here to show my skills because I’m the best.
“I know myself. I represent Eastern Cape, Soweto, Dobsonville. We are starving, we are fighters. We have the hearts of lions. This thing is our thing. We share experience. You give me experience, I give you my experience. If I lose, I learn. If you lose, you learn.”
Van Staden was short in his replyd: “I’m not much for words. I don’t have anything more to say than let the punches speak on the night.”
Leo Careri who will come up against John Bopape in the super middleweight
“I will outbox him. The power is there, so it’s going to be lights out. But I’m not going looking for it. I’m too smart. Too slick. Too quick. Too pretty.”
Bopape interrupted: “Yeah just don’t blink. Just keep your eyes open my buddy.”
Kevin Lerena’s Focus Shifts to Ryad Merhy After Knockout Chaos
While ABP ambassador Kevin Lerena will be invested in ensuring the success of Knockout Chaos this, he will soon turn his attention to his bridgerweight WBC title defence against Ryad Merhy again in Belgium on May 30.
“Every fight is important,” Lerena said. “Like my last fight, I had a complete banana peel performance. It was not me in there. It was terrible.”
The fight the 33-year-old Lerena was alluding to was his defeat to Lawrence Okolie at Wembley Stadium in London in July in front of 90,000 people for the WBC Silver Heavyweight title.
For that clash, Lerena piled on 23 kilograms from his previous fight to weigh in at 118kg as he stepped up to the heavier division.
Next month, Lerena will be back in the Bridgerweight division where he will be closer to the 95kgs he was when he beat Serhiy Radchenko by TKO in three rounds in May last year.
But that loss to Okolie still hurts for Lerena. A win would have vaulted him into the upper echelon of the heavyweight division, potentially lining up blockbuster opportunities against the likes of Oleksandr Usyk, Agit Kabayel, Anthony Joshua, or even Tyson Fury — a fighter Lerena insists he’d never face out of friendship.
Now, he has to readjust his sights to Merhy.
“So, you can only focus on the fight you have and Ryad Merhy right now is more important than Daniel Dubois, more important than any world title defence I’ve ever had because I cannot afford a banana peel,” said Lerena on Tuesday in Sandton ahead of the Knockout Chaos 1 boxing event his company Aquila Boxing Promotions is hosting this weekend.
“I need to win, and win well.”