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This Wednesday in Carnival City, South Africa, IBO super featherweight titlist Cassius Baloyi will attempt to move up in weight and secure that organization’s lightweight crown. In the opposite corner will be fellow South African undefeated phenomenon, Isaac Hlatshwayo. Baloyi, 31-1 (16), is coming off two narrow victories over former IBF champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba and has won his last five bouts but the thirty-year-old from Johannesburg just may have met his match in the form of Hlatshwayo. The Soweto lightweight is unbeaten in twenty-one contests and is the younger, bigger man. Former super bantamweight Baloyi has faced the better competition but the bar has been set very high indeed for his first bout at the higher weight.
Cassius Baloyi is only thirty-year- old but remarkably, eighteen of his thirty-two fights have been for a title. True, those belts were either the IBO or WBU belts, but the South African has faced a solid level of competition during his career. In addition to Ledwaba, Baloyi has shared the ring with Mbulelo Botile, Frankie Toledo, Steve Robinson, Tiger Ari and Phillip N’Dou among others.
It’s N’Dou, in fact, that both Baloyi and Isaac Hlatshwayo share as a common opponent, but the two men produced two very different results in their bouts with the heavy-handed “Time Bomb.” Baloyi jumped up to super featherweight for the first time and faced a prime Phillip N’Dou four years ago, suffering his first career loss at the hands of the lanky puncher by way of unanimous decision. Hlatshwayo pounded out a close split decision over N’Dou during their contest in May of last year but it was just six months after Floyd Mayweather administered a severe beating to N’Dou in a WBC title fight.
Wednesday night’s showdown will likely be a tactical affair, as Baloyi prefers to box off the back foot and make use of his sharp countering skills. Hlatshwayo should play into this scenario by stalking the smaller adversary and could make the bout very interesting if he can cut down the distance and force Baloyi to fight. Both fighters have displayed solid chins, Hlatshwayo never having been down and Baloyi only once, so it looks like a twelve round affair to decide the vacant IBO lightweight crown.
Due to his greater experience, Baloyi is favored to take a points victory, but Hlatshwayo will have the momentum going in and an upset victory could have implications on the world scene as the Soweto man ranks in the top five in most of the major sanctioning bodies.
Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com
