‘A real champion’: history for ‘Magic Man’ Malajika as he unseats Chauke

International Boxing Organisation (IBO) junior bantamweight world boxing champion, Ricardo “Magic Man” Malajika made history on Saturday night after ending the reign of Jackson Chauke as the IBO flyweight champion.

Malajika became the first South African boxer since the sanctioning boxing body based in Florida, US, began working with fighters from this country in 1998 to hold two of its belts simultaneously.

South Africans have won IBO belts in 15 of the 17 weight divisions of boxing. But none even attempted to do what 26-year-old Maljika did — come down a weight division while still holding his belt and dethrone the reigning champion in that weight class.

He needed five minutes to do that. Living up to his nickname, Malajika showed his magical power and hand speed to confound 39-year-old ring veteran Chauke in two minutes and one second in the second round.

Former Olympian Chauke, who began fighting professionally on his return from the 2008 Beijing Games had never been stopped and had also not lost a boxing match in the flyweight division in 13 years. When Phumelela “The Truth” Cafu defeated him in 2022, their 10-rounder was fought in the junior bantamweight division.

Malajika warned last month during the announcement of this fight he would be the first boxer to stop Chauke within the scheduled distance. Few believed him.

To try to convince the boxing fraternity and also promoter Rodney Berman and manager Brian Mitchell, Malajika presented Chauke with a blanket.

Indeed the ring veteran, who did not touch the challenger throughout their bout, went to sleep on Saturday night at Emperors Palace.

A huge crowd gathered to find answers to the big question: would “M3" Chauke show the real capacity and power of that German racing car? Instead Chauke stalled as Maljika did not give him time and space to set off.

“I give respect to Ricardo,” said Chauke. “No excuses; I was given enough time to prepare and I was ready, OK to fight, but Ricardo surprised me. I did not see the punches that dropped me.

“You know, we said a lot of things before the fight that were meant to sell the fight and I even said I didn't like him, but the truth is I like him. He's a real champion and I wish he could go on and win one of the most lucrative belts like the IBF or WBC.”

Asked what the future holds, Chauke said: “Damien [Durandt, his trainer and manager] said we are not done yet, so what I can tell you is I may move a division up because I have been struggling to make the weight limit.

“Remember the last time I made the weight was in January 2022 when I won the title and I spent over a year without a fight.”

Maljika did not have much to say.

“Thank God [and] promoter Rodney Berman for this opportunity for me to win two titles in two divisions, trainer Manny [Fernandes] and my manager Brian Mitchell.

“I warned you last week I would break him down with a my jab — did I not do that?”

Mitchell is not sure what steps Malajika will take going forward now his charge holds two belts in two weight divisions.

“I will sit down with Rodney and hear his plans and we will take it from there but the truth is Maljika could have defended his belt on Saturday but he told me he wanted to move down to flyweight and challenge Chauke, instead of Chauke coming up. So he's made history and I honestly think we will focus in the junior bantamweight division.”

In the two earlier fights, Bryan Thysse and Michael Head eliminated Tuvia Wewege and Bonginkosi Nhlapho respectively and will now fight each other for the vacant South African light-heavyweight title.

Both eight-round bouts went the distance and there were no knock-downs.

Head, trained by Vusi Mtolo, and the Durandt-trained Thysse will meet on May 31 for the vacant national title. That bout will also be staged by Berman's Golden Gloves, which organised the Palace Pandemonium event on Saturday.

Also at that event, Brandon Thysse won the World Boxing Council (WBC) Africa junior-middleweight championship, defeating Namibian Charles Shinima on points over 10 rounds. It was a scrappy fight where referee Eric Khoza worked overtime trying to separate the two fighters, who spent quality time holding and hugging each other.