It’s easy to make promises and boast, or express intentions, but much harder to follow through with action, warned emerging boxing trainer Bobo Mata.
He was reacting to concerns raised by yours truly yesterday at the Galleria where promoter Geraldine Lerena’s Aquilla Boxing Promotion (ABP) held its media briefing ahead of its tournament at the same venue in Sandton on Saturday night.
Manager Desanto Geno’s charge, Youssouf Kasongo Mwanza, would not look his dance partner, Keaton Gomes, in the eyes when presented with the opportunity to speak.
Clad in a bucket hat, Mwanza buried his head between his shoulders.
Direct gaze, especially in boxing, involves locked eye contact, often for roughly eight seconds, to show comfort or to compel one’s dancer partner and the media alike to believe a statement, even if that statement is false.
Mwanza’s behaviour left an impression that it was either Mata or Geno who believed he could do a number on the former SA heavyweight champion.
Mata warned this writer not to read much into that action.
Making taunting remarks, he said after the briefing. “That boy (Gomes) is going to sleep; that’s a promise.”
He has manned corners of boxers since 2020, operating from the Bonyeme Boxing Academy, which once catered to approximately 30 boxers from various countries, including Congo, Tanzania, Namibia, Nigeria and Malawi.
Geno shared Mata’s sentiments and added: “We are here to fight; tables can turn; talk is cheap.”
Asked to comment on his charge’s uninspiring fight record of two wins against seven losses, Geno said: “It was then; he’s with new management now.”
Mwanza warned: ”I always come like a warrior and I have never been stopped."
He quit in the corner after dominating Chris “The Wolf” Thompson for three rounds in their cruiserweight fight in 2019.
Gomes will return to action for the first time since October when he suffered a debatable points loss to Bosnian Ahmed Krnjic in the semifinals of the inaugural WBC Grand Prix Series in Saudi Arabia.
All bouts will be televised live on SuperSport DStv channel 209 from 7pm.
Sowetan
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