Nkosinathi Joyi

Whilst we may not immediately think of South Africa as an out an out "boxing country" due to their love with both Cricket and Rugby Union they do tend to have the occasional boxer who really stands out. In the 1950's it was excellent Bantamweight Vic Toweel in the 1980's we had both the amazing Super Featherweight Brian Mitchell and Heavyweight Gerrie Coetzee and in the 1990's "Baby" Jacob Matlala who all proved to be exceptionally talented South Africans. Now a days one of South Africa's boxers is Minimumweight Nkosinathi Joyi (22-1-0-1, 15) who formerly held the IBF Minimumweight title.

Based in Mdantsane, Eastern Cape the 29 year old Joyi, known as "Mabere" has been boxing professionally since he was just 19. On his debut in 2002 he defeated Dalisizwe Komani by a 6 round decision before running off 3 stoppage wins to end the year 4-0 (3). The following year he claimed his first title as he won the Cape Mini Flyweight title by out pointing Mlungiseleli Xokoloshe, his only decision win of the year as he advanced his record to 7-0 (5).

Joyi moved up the national rankings quickly and despite having only been a professional for around 2 years Joyi claimed the South African Minimumweight title title in early 2004 defeating Mzikayse Foslare inside a round. Joyi would defend this title 6 times over the following 2 and a half years with only 2 of his challengers managing to hear the final bell.

Having proven to be the best Minimumweight boxer in South Africa, Joyi sought more meaningful challenges and in late 2006 he claimed his first major international title by stopping Armando dela Cruz in 2 rounds for the IBO Minimumweight title. As the IBO champion Joyi progressed quickly and despite blowing out Gabriel Pumar inside a round he was severely tested by Mexican Sammy Gutierrez. Against Gutierrez, Joyi was given serious trouble and dropped in round 5 before eventually stopping Gutierrez in round 7 in what was, to that point, by far his toughest bout. Following the victory over Gutierrez, Joyi made just one more defense of his title stopping     Lorenzo Trejo in 2 rounds before giving up the belt to move towards a more respected belt.

In his first bout after giving up the IBO title Joyi faced hard punching Filipino Florante Condes in an IBF title eliminator. The talented Condes had been a world champion just a year earlier and was seen as a clear threat to Joyi due to his power and experience, to many this appeared to be a defining fight for Joyi.  Joyi relished the challenge and proved his class by clearly dominating the former world champion almost scoring a shut out over his highly ranked opponent. This victory earned Joyi the #1 ranking with the IBF and a serious chance of fighting for a world title.

After waiting 9 months following the victory over Condes, Joyi got his chance to fight for the world title bringing the then IBF Minimumweight champion Raul Garcia from Mexico to South Africa. Garcia was viewed as yet another step up in class for Joyi and was unbeaten in 28 bouts with 4 title defenses behind him. Like Joyi, Garcia had had to prove himself and had secured 2 victories over Gutierrez as well as a victory over Condes (in the fight that saw Garcia claiming the title). Sadly despite being experienced and talented Garcia was thoroughly out classed by Joyi who proved that he genuinely was one of the most outstanding little men in the sport.

Since winning the title Joyi has sadly been rather inactive with just 2 defenses in almost 2 and a half years. The first of those defenses came 10 months after Joyi won the title as he faced former WBC champion Katsunari Takayama, sadly that bout ended prematurely after a clash of heads in round 3 saw the bout called off as a 3 round No Contest. Earlier this year the two men rematched in the only other defense by Joyi, this time the South African came out the winner in a very competitive bout. The long lay off seemed to negatively effect the champion who was less than his usually impressive self.

Despite having been a huge favourite in his most recent fight, Joyi suffered a massive upset at the hands of Mario Rodriguez recently and lost not only his unbeaten record but also his world title. Whether Joyi returns to try and avenge his loss or instead makes the move to either Light Flyweight or even Flyweight is a big question asked amongst fans of the lower weights, though the likely outcome is that he will return to fighting at home in his comfort zone, a real shame for boxing fans.