Simphiwe Khonco 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 bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He held the IBO mini-flyweight title from 2016 to 2019 and challenged for the WBA mini-flyweight title in 2015 and the WBC mini-flyweight title in 2019.

Boxing career

IBO mini-flyweight champion

Khonco was scheduled to fight Siyabonga Siyo for the vacant IBO mini-flyweight title on June 11, 2016 at the Emperors Palace in

Kempton Park, Gauteng Kempton Park is a city in the East Rand region of Gauteng province, South Africa. It is part of the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality. It is situated south of Tembisa, one of the largest townships in South Africa, which is also part o ...

. The fight was a hometown bout for both competitors, as they both hailed from the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

province of South African Republic. Khonco won the fight by unanimous decision, with two of the judges scoring the fight 118-110 in his favor, while the third judge scored the fight 116-112 for him. Khonco made his first title defense against

Nkosinathi Joyi Nkosinathi Joyi (born 1 January 1983 in Mdantsane, South Africa), is a South African professional boxer with a southpaw stance who goes by the nickname of "Mabere". Joyi is the former IBF Minimumweight world champion, he was ranked by BoxRec ...

on November 20, 2016. It was the first time that a world title fight was held in

Mthatha Mthatha , formerly Umtata, is the main city of the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Eastern Cape province of South Africa and the capital of OR Tambo District Municipality. The city has an airport, previously known as the K. D. Matanzi ...

, South Africa. Khonco won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 119-111, 119-111 and 118-112. Khonco was scheduled to make his second IBO title defense against Lito Dante on June 10, 2017 at the Emperors Palace in

. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 119-109, 119-109 and 118-110. Khonco was scheduled to make his third title defense against Joey Canoy on December 2, 2018. The fight ended abruptly in the fourth round, after an accidental clash of heads left Khonco unable to continue. The fight was accordingly declared a no contest. Khonco subsequently refused a rematch, stating “We took this fight on our own but now we are moving foward [sic]".

Later mini-flyweight career

Khonco was scheduled to challenge the reigning WBC mini-flyweight title champion

Wanheng Menayothin Chayaphon Moonsri ( th, ชยพล มูลศรี; formerly: ''Saengsuree Moonsri''; แสงสุรีย์ มูลศรี; born 27 October 1985), known as Wanheng Menayothin (วันเฮง มีนะโยธิน) or Wanh ...

on October 25, 2019. Wanheng won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118-109, 116-110, and 117-109. Khonco faced Ariston Aton (9–3) on April 9, 2022, at the Superbowl in Sun City, on the undercard of the Athenkosi Dumezweni and Landi Ngxeke South African super flyweight title bout. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 100–90, 96–92 and 97–93.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khonco, Simphiwe Living people Mini-flyweight boxers South African male boxers People from Mthatha Sportspeople from the Eastern Cape 1984 births