NEWLY crowned International Boxing Organisation (IBO) minimumweight champion Simphiwe “Chain Reaction” Khonco has heaped a mountain of praise on his bitter rival, Siyabonga “Silent Assassin” Siyo, for an outstanding performance in their championship clash at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park on Saturday.
Khonco broke Siyo’s undefeated run with a unanimous 12-round points decision to capture the vacant belt.
The Gauteng based new champ said that although the fight went according to plan, he had to give credit to his losing opponent. “Everything happened the way we planned it but I take my hat off to Siyo for putting up a brave performance. He really surprised me,” he said.
“The performances we displayed on Saturday night show that we are in tip-top shape, we were well prepared for the contest.
“We knew beating Siyo would not be easy, but our team came up with a fight plan tailor-made to suit his style.”
The fireworks between the rivals, who both hail from the Eastern Cape, lived up to expectations. Khonco was the more aggressive one from the first gong, which forced the World Boxing Association International strawweight champion to fight on the back foot for most of the contest.
Khonco improved his record to five losses and 16 wins with seven knockouts, while the 26-year-old Siyo has only the one defeat and 10 wins, four of them knockouts. Going into the fight, Khonco was ranked at No 6 and Siyo at No 13 by the IBO.
