By Mesuli Zifo

The relicensing fiasco involving former three time world champion and now 44-year-old Dingaan Thobela has opened a door for heavyweight upstart Flo Simba to accelerate his ring return after he was drafted into the August 29 Box and Dine tournament to replace Thobela.

The tournament, scheduled to be held at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg, South Africa was to be headlined by Thobela’s ring return against Basil Rey in an eighth round heavyweight scrap.

But following Thobela’s belated revoking of his license, which subsequently ruled him out of the show, Simba has been drafted in as the main bout against Zimbabwean Thamsanqa Dube in an eighth round heavyweight clash.

Simba was initially earmarked to return to the ring in a Golden Gloves Promotion (GGP) boxing extravaganza on September 24 against an opponent that was to be announced.

However the cancellation of the Thobela-Rey fight has prompted him to return earlier as he seeks to exorcise the ghost of his sixth round stoppage defeat by veteran Francois Botha on June 4 at the same venue.

The upset defeat by Botha was his first in 11 bouts with eight stoppages. 

GGP publicist Brian Mitchell said Simba will still feature in the September 24 tournament even though he will be in action on August 29.

“We are looking to keep him busy to get his confidence back after the Botha disaster,” said Mitchell, adding that the 21-year-old will also likely feature in another GGP tournament in November.

Simba is eager to redeem himself after the Botha loss but he might just find Dube a hard nut to crack as the Zimbabwean is capable of fighting judging by his record of two losses in 13 bouts.

Admittedly his level of opposition is questionable but he held his own against countryman Joseph Chingangu before bowing out in five rounds in one of his two losses.

Chingangu will be remembered as the fighter who bludgeoned former SA champion Osborne Machimana to a seventh round stoppage defeat in 2008 when Machimana was touted as the next world beater from SA.

Dube also dealt SA-born Aussie Jake Els an eighth round stoppage defeat in April 2009 but his opposition has mainly come from his country which is not known as the boxing stronghold.

Mitchell said Dube would be a perfect opponent for Simba to prove that he has put the Botha loss behind him.

“Dube will come to fight and that will be good for Simba to test his resolve as we are looking to build him psychologically and spiritually,” he said.