Africa’s giants collide at EFC24
The SuperSport Lounge in Carnival City crackled with pent-up aggression at the EFC Africa 24 weigh-in on Wednesday, October 9.
EFC 24 is taking place tonight.
The first weigh-in saw champion Jeremy “Pitbull” Smith and challenger Garreth “Soldierboy” McLellan stare each other down and creating an ire atmosphere, much to the crowd’s excitement.
The bout, which had been billed as the “Battte of Ages”, has been 20 months in the making, and there was no love lost between the two rivals, with insults being part of the hostile exchanges.
“I’m coming to win the belt,” said McLellan in the brief post weigh-in brief interview.
“I’m here to fight, that’s all,” responded a confident Smith.
In the second championship bout that was due to take place for the featherweight title, undefeated champion Demarte “The Wolf” Pena (7-0) and DRC-born brutal striker Alain “Commander Boy” Ilunga (5-1), finally stood face-to-face in the 24th edition’s curtain raiser.
Earlier last week Ilunga described the champion as a “stepping stone”, a phrase Pena laughed off.
“I will remain champion,” beamed Pena, not wanting to give a lot away.
“This is my time,” was Ilunga’s just as short reply.
The meeting between former champion Ruan “Fangzz” Potts and Ricky “Apocalypse” Misholas was equally tension-filled.
The two were scheduled to meet in June this year, but Misholas pulled out hours before the bout with an injured hand. Potts accused the Congolese athlete of avoiding the fight.
During the weigh-in, however, the big men regarded each other calmly, but Misholas refused to shake his opponent’s hand, provoking a grin from Potts, and a gasp from the crowd.
Of the 26 athletes that stood on the scale, two did not hit their required weight limits.
Mbulelo Swikele and Pierre Botha had agreed to a featherweight bout catch weight limit of 63kgs, but Swikele came in over that at 65.30kg.
After negotiations, Botha’s camp had agreed to fight at the amended weight.
