Why I lost to Bam: Phumelela Cafu breaks his silence

East London boxing star Phumelela Cafu has broken his silence about his devastating loss to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in the US last weekend, attributing it to a huge weight gain after the weigh-in.

Cafu was stopped in the 10th round to surrender his WBO junior-bantamweight title to the American in their triple world unification clash in Frisco, Texas. The loss was his first in 15 bouts and left him so gutted he cried after his trainer Colin Nathan had thrown in the towel when Rodriguez wobbled him with a right hook.

While admitting Nathan saved him from what could have been a career-ending loss, Cafu said rehydrating to 62.5kg before the fight cost him dearly. He weighed 52.16kg at the official weigh-in a day before the fight and gained more than 10kg on the day of the fight, which affected his movement and speed.

“I was slow because of the huge weight I put in after the weigh-in,” he said. “This allowed Bam to get off first and dominate me by using quick feet.”

Cafu fought on the back foot throughout, relying on counterpunching, allowing Rodriguez to pick away with a two-handed fusillade to build a healthy lead. He said the weight made it hard for him to push Rodriguez backwards, as that would have made him vulnerable to the American’s onslaught.

“I tried to push him, but realised that he would have stopped me earlier than he did. One thing about him is he is deceptively quick and bases all his offence on quick feet. Had I fought aggressively, he would have pivoted me and landed damaging blows, so my best bet was to time him, which was not as effective because I was slow because of the huge rehydration.”

The weight gain was geared towards landing power punches to eventually stop Rodriguez, but instead, it backfired.

[Rodriguez] told me it was not him disrespecting me, but he did not know his camp would announce the fight before our clash

—  Phumelela Cafu

Cafu, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Saturday, said had he won the fight it would have been a perfect birthday present. While he considered moving up to the bantamweight division, he has opted to remain in junior-bantamweight and wait for Rodriguez to vacate the belts and move up.

Rodriguez is scheduled to face Fernando Martinez to unify his WBO, WBC and Ring Magazine titles against the Argentinian’s WBA belt in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on November 22. The fight was announced before Rodriguez’s clash against Cafu, drawing condemnation from the American camp for the premature announcement.

Rodriguez went to Cafu’s locker room after the fight to apologise for the premature announcement.

“He told me it was not him disrespecting me, but he did not know his camp would announce the fight before our clash,” he said.

Cafu, who reportedly earned an eight-figure purse, said he was house hunting for his mother, whom he had promised to buy a home.

Daily Dispatch