It only took just 50 seconds of the first round for Eric Zwane to knock out his opponent at the Thulamlomo Boxing Tournament which was recently hosted at Estcourt Town Hall.

This further weight fight was his third professional match and second first-round knockout in 50 seconds of the first round and the fight was his great success.

He claimed that even though the fight was to improve his rankings in boxing, he is satisfied with his victory.

“I am very ecstatic for my victory. It shows that I have a great potential in the professional boxing, noting that this is just my third professional fight. Although, I was hoping that I will fight all the rounds, but unfortunately it did not happen. The fight only lasted for 50 seconds in first round,’’ he explained.

Zwane who hails from Dumbe and is a first-year student enrolling at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) doing his Diploma in Information and Communications Technology (ICT)) said that he used to play football before transitioning to boxing. After moving to a new place in 2015 where football was not popular, he joined boxing just to distract himself from boredom and ended up falling in love with the sport.

His excellent performance drew him back to one of the best moments in his career so far, the fight against Ntethelelo Magcaba in 2021 which was voted as the fight of the tournament.

“I will never forget that fight it was my best moment. We had to fight for second time again because of how great our first fight was. I discovered a lot about myself in those two fights, in terms of my skills and technics,’’ he elaborated.

The aspiring boxer lauded his former coach, Njabulo Nkosi who encouraged him to turn into professional boxing. He also commended the KwaZulu-Natal Feather Weight boxer Lindelani Sibisi as his source of inspiration. Further claiming that he likes his style of boxing. “He is someone that I look up to because he makes the boxing looks fun and enjoyable,’’ he added.

The 23-year-old also revealed he wishes to see himself one day holding one of the respected belts in South Africa, like SA Champions.

Amongst Zwane’s victories include South African Local Government Association (SALGA) Games in 2015, two KZN Championships in 2016 and 2023, KZN Best Male Boxer in 2017, and the RSA Championships. The PietermaritzburgOpen Tournament and Best Male Bout in 2021.

Pictured: Eric Zwane, first-year DUT ICT student and a professional boxer.

Vukani Langa