Today in the history of South African boxing marks nine years since Tsiko “Cruel Junior” Mulovhedzi was publicly humiliated by serious accusations of using a muthi spell to dethrone Ali “Rush Hour” Funeka as the IBO welterweight champion.
The accusation was made by trainer Lunga “Dokes” Sekonyela after his charge, Funeka, had been dethroned by unheralded Mulovhedzi from Thohoyandou in their fight which took place at East London's ICC on July 24 2015.
Funeka from Mdantsane, a vastly experienced campaigner, had everything going for him — height, power in both hands, the experience he had gained from 43 fights and he had also fought against the best boxers in the business but none had put him on his pants.
It took Mulovhedzi to do just that, sending Funeka to slumber land four times before referee Deon Dwarte, who had given the defending champion the benefit of the doubt, eventually intervened in the fifth round. Funeka's legs were a jelly-like substance; his timing was off and he could not protect himself.
A deafening silence filled the hall when Dwarte stopped the fight; you could hear the needle drop. That is how Funeka's reign ended.
“I have never seen Ali looking like that,” said Sekonyela. “I had never believed in muthi before but now I know it exists and it is powerful.”
Sekonyela said that long after the fight, Funeka’s legs were still groggy, so he had to go to Mulovhedzi’s anteroom “to ask him to come and shake Funeka’s hand so that the evil spirit on Ali can go away".
Sekonyela said that it was only after that that 40-year-old Funeka — a former SA junior-lightweight‚ WBC International lightweight‚ WBF junior-welterweight and IBO welterweight champion — appeared to recover.
Their bout headlined Xaba Promotion's international event which promoter Ayanda Matiti staged in celebration of the life of late statesman Nelson Mandela as an aspirant boxer.
Mulovhedzi is the son of musangwe (bare-knuckle) champion, Ratshilumela “Cruel Senior” Mulovhedzi from Venda. Mulovhedzi warned that Funeka would join the queue of pensioners after their fight.
“His time as a fighter is up and he will find out on the night,” warned Mulovhedzi, who called out Funeka in April after dispatching his homeboy from Mdantsane, Mzolisi Yoyo, in five rounds.
Mulovhedzi sent Yoyo, the 37-year-old former SA and WBF International junior-welterweight champion, into retirement after their fight.
Funeka fought 10 more times, winning the WBO Africa belt in those bouts before he retired in 2019 with a record of 40 wins with 32 knockouts in 52 fights.
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