Sivenathi Nontshinga (born 3 December 1998) is a South African

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He is a two-time IBF light-flyweight world champion, having held the belt from 2022 to November 2023 in his first reign, and from February 2024 to October 2024 in his second reign. He has previously held the IBF International light-flyweight title from 2019 to 2022. Also a former African light-flyweight champion, he is ranked as the world's fifth-best active light-flyweight by

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and the seventh-best by the IBF.

Early life

Nontshinga was raised in Newlands, a "chicken farm community" located at the entrance to

Mdantsane Mdantsane is a South African urban township situated 15 km away from East London and 37 km away from Qonce in the Eastern Cape. It is the second largest township in Eastern Cape and 17th largest in the Top 20 largest townships in So ...

township in

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

. His father, Thembani Gopheni, is his trainer and his handler.

Professional boxing career

Early career

Nontshinga made his professional debut on 30 July 2017 at the age of 18, defeating Sandile Wessels in a third-round finish in

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. After four stoppages in his first four fights, he was soon recognized as a promising teen sensation in South Africa. In only his fifth pro fight, he defeated Tisetso Modisadife for the vacant African light-flyweight title. On 7 April 2019, he scored a first-round knockout over Adam Yahaya to win the vacant IBF International light-flyweight title in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

. In his first title defense, Nontshinga defeated compatriot Siyabonga Siyo, a fighter he idolised growing up. He finished Siyo with a barrage of blows in the ninth round to make it eighth stoppage wins in eighth fights. He retained his belt again on 8 March 2020 by defeating Ivan Soriano, ranked number 5 by the IBF, at the Orient Theatre in East London. Nontshinga suffered a swollen left eye early, but after knocking him down at the end of the fourth round, he dropped the veteran for good in the fifth with a right cross. After more than a year without a fight due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Nontshinga defeated Filipino prospect

Christian Araneta Christian Aniadas Araneta (born 16 March 1995) is a Filipino professional boxer. Boxing career Araneta made his professional debut against Garry Rojo on 7 September 2013. He won the fight by a third-round knockout. Araneta amassed a 13–0 recor ...

in an IBF title eliminator in Port Elizabeth on 24 April 2021. Although he was knocked down in the 12th round, he was favored unanimously on the judges' scorecards (115–112, 114–113, 114–113).

IBF light flyweight champion

Nontshinga vs. Flores

Nontshinga faced the undefeated Hector Flores for the vacant IBF light flyweight title on 3 September 2022, following a seventeen-month absence from the sport, at the Centro de Usos Múltiples in

Hermosillo Hermosillo (), formerly called Pitic (as in ''Santísima Trinidad del Pitic'' and ''Presidio del Pitic''), is a city in the center of the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the municipal seat of the Hermosillo municipality, the state's ...

, Mexico and was as such his first fight outside of his native South Africa. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of the

Juan Francisco Estrada Juan Francisco Estrada Romero (born April 14, 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC super flyweight title between 2022 and 2024 and ''The Ring'' super flyweight title between 2019 and 20 ...

and Argi Cortes

super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from A ...

title bout. Nontshinga won the fight by split decision. Two of the judges scored the fight 116–111 and 114–113 in his favor, while the third judge scored it 115–112 for Flores. Nontshinga scored the sole knockdown of the fight in the second round, as he floored his opponent with a right hook which looped around the guard. The newly crowned Nontshinga signed a promotional deal with

Matchroom Boxing Matchroom Sport is a UK-based sporting event promotions company founded by Barry Hearn and run by him and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, golf, fishin ...

four days after capturing the vacant belt. The championship bout was later awarded "Fight of the Year" honors by the IBF.

Nontshinga vs. Suganob

On February 28, 2023, Nontshinga was ordered by the IBF to make a mandatory title defense against Regie Suganob. The title fight was booked to take place on June 16, 2023, at the International Convention Centre in

East London, South Africa East London (; ) is a city on the southeastern coast of South Africa, in the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa, Province. The city lies on the Indian Ocean coast, largely between the Buffalo River ( ...

. The event organizers, Rumble Africa Promotions, later postponed the event to July 2 to allow

SABC Sport SABC SPORT is a South African free-to-air sports television channel owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). The channel was operating for a while on DTT before expanding on other platforms. After its expansion, the channel is ...

to setup TV coverage. Nontshinga won the fight by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 116–112 and one scorecard of 117–110 in his favor.

Nontshinga vs. Curiel I & II

Eddie Hearn Edward John Hearn (born 8 June 1979) is a British sports promoter and the chairman of Matchroom Sport and Professional Darts Corporation. Hearn has promoted many world champion boxers through Matchroom, including Anthony Joshua, Canelo Álvar ...

’s

confirmed on September 11, 2023, that Nontshinga would make a voluntary title defense against the #11 ranked IBF light-flyweight contender

Adrian Curiel Adrian Curiel Dominguez (born January 12, 1999) is a Mexican professional boxer, who formerly held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) light flyweight championship, retaining the title from November 2023 to February 2024. Professional car ...

. The fight took place at the Casino de Monte Carlo Salle Medecin in

Monte Carlo, Monaco Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to a larger district, the Mont ...

on November 4, 2023, as the co-main event to the IBF super-featherweight title bout between

Joe Cordina Joe Cordina (born 1 December 1991) is a Welsh-Maltese professional boxer. He is a two-time super-featherweight world champion, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title between 2022 and 2024. As an amateur, he won a bronze me ...

and Edward Vazquez. Nontshinga lost the fight by an upset second-round knockout. An immediate rematch was booked for February 16, 2024, and took place in

Oaxaca City Oaxaca de Juárez (), or simply Oaxaca (Valley Zapotec languages, Zapotec: ''Ndua''), is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the municipal seat for the surrounding munici ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Nontshinga reclaimed the title by a tenth-round technical knockout. He knocked Curiel down 44 seconds into the tenth round, before forcing the referee to wave the fight off with a flurry of punches on a cornered and unresponsive Curiel.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nontshinga, Sivenathi 1998 births Living people South African male boxers Boxers from the Eastern Cape People from Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality World light-flyweight boxing champions African Boxing Union champions International Boxing Federation champions 21st-century South African sportsmen