Manny Fernandes – We thought Kuse won the fight

Manny Fernandes – We thought Kuse won the fight

South African boxer Siya Kuse’s highly regarded trainer, Manny Fernandes, insists his man did enough to capture the WBC strawweight crown in Manila, but it simply wasn’t meant to be.

Kuse, faced off against Melvin Jerusalem in the headline fight of the ‘Thrilla in Manila’ tribute event.

The fight went the full 12 rounds, with Siya Kuse producing most of the activity in the opening 10 rounds. 

Many fight fans and critics alike thought Kuse was the busier of the two boxers and therefore could’ve edged the result, but the three judges did not see it that way.

This is how Fernandes viewed the fight outcome from Kuse’s corner.
“It was a great performance from Siya, and when the fight ended, we actually thought we did enough to win the fight, but it’s obvious we were in his backyard,” Fernades said.
“When the announcer read out the scorecards after the first four rounds, me and Brian Mitchell looked at one another and said, ‘what a load of nonsense’.
“So, from that point on, we knew that the judges were going to make it hard for us to win this fight.

“The champion wasn’t doing too much in the first two minutes of the round; he was waiting for the last thirty seconds to steal the round, but judges should be judging the whole round and not just the final ten or twenty seconds."

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Fernandes admits the game plan had to change during the fight because it was announced that Kuse was trailing on points, which placed even more pressure on the South African, forcing him to be more aggressive.
Regardless of the result, Fernandes was very pleased with Kuse’s showing on the night against a more experienced fighter.
“Be that as it may, we’ll be back. Siya still has his No. 2 WBC ranking, so there are some plans for a possible No. 1 contender fight next year. Thereafter, we’ll be back in the title picture, and maybe Rodney Berman can bring Melvin Jerusalem to South Africa for another great fight.”

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