Julian Kiewietz
Cape Town combat sports fans are in for a treat this weekend as the premier Cabo Beach Club venue in the V&A Waterfront will showcase some of Africa’s top boxing talents.
On Saturday, the fancy establishment on the water’s edge will play host to Fight Island, a brand-new promotional event rolled out by promoter, gym owner, and respected boxing coach Matt Leisching.
Fight Island adds to the growing number of combat sport shows in the Mother City following a dry spell for fans, especially after Africa’s premier MMA promotion, the Extreme Fighting Championship, opted to operate strictly out of Johannesburg after the pandemic in 2020.
This particular show, however, brings a glamour, Cape Town nightlife feel, celebrity, and loads of entertainment, all mixed with a high level of fighting and competition. Leisching, co-owner of the elite gym MADFit, expressed his enthusiasm: “This is something I've been wanting to do for a very long time. I think it will bring something exciting and different to boxing in South Africa.”
Looking to the future, he added, “We will be doing two events a year at Cabo, and my MLBoxing boxer management brand will help feed this promotion." The event will showcase a four-fight prelim card before a highly stacked eight-fight main card is rolled out later in the evening.
The main event will see the grizzled and former WBF International Super Welterweight champion Cristiano Ndombassy (13-9) face the upcoming star Darrin Rossouw in an exciting eight-round middleweight battle. Rossouw was initially set to face Emile Brits, however, the latter was sidelined due to injury.
Former MMA athlete and EFC Lightweight top contender, South Africa’s Boyd Allen takes on Uganda’s Nicolas Jooga in a six-round Super Welterweight bout.
The card also features Western Cape Super Bantamweight Champion Khaya Mlata, who will face the dangerous southpaw Siboniso Gonya in a technically skilled match-up. In the super-middleweight division, fighting out of MADFit gym, the undefeated talent Dylan Prosser will take on Sifiso Chili in a match-up of prospects.
There will also be a heated rivalry between two former teammates as Dwayne Dodzo faces Dillon Solomons in the middleweight division. Shortly before the main and co-main events, CIT hotshot and undefeated athlete SD Pypers faces Sipho Manya in another Middleweight fight. Pypers is a good friend of UFC Middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis, who will also be present as a guest of honour.
“Dricus is a long-time friend of mine and having him there to support means the world with his brand Knox Hydrate! We are also happy to host our main sponsors, Bomb Squad Beer, supported by my other great friends Aimee and Steven Kitshoff (two-time World Cup-winning Springbok),” Leisching said.
Another interesting fight is the rematch between PFC Ladies’ Bantamweight champion Lisolethu Majalisa and Aayesha Majiet. In their first fight earlier this year, Majalisa outstruck her opponent and walked away with the inaugural title after a hard-fought four rounds. With Majalisa’s original opponent sidelined due to injury, the courageous and ever-ready Majiet stepped in to avenge her loss at the Camps Bay School Hall.
“There will be no title fights this time around, however, we will be doing title bouts in April next year. I am very proud of this event; all the fights will be great!
“The main fight between Cristiano (Ndombassy) and Darrin (Rossouw) will be the one I’m most looking forward to as it’s a 50/50,” Leisching added.
Fight Island 1’s weigh-ins take place at the Pepper Club at 1pm on Friday. The show kicks off with the amateur boxers starting at 3.30 pm and professional boxers starting at 7pm.
There will also be live music and food on sale. Ticket prices start at R385 through Quicket, and there are only a few left after the brand confirmed that 90% of tickets are sold.