Junior middleweight prospect Josh Feldman is scheduled to face Welcome Malumbu at Box Camp Booysens in Johannesburg, South Africa on July 13. Josh's original opponent withdrew.
Malumbu is a veteran from the Democratic Republic of Congo who has fought exclusively in South Africa. His record of 0-8 may seem poor, but boxing records are often misleading. No one with eight professional fights is a bad fighter. The bad fighters are done after one or two professional fights. Malumbu, whose record is split into two different entries on BoxRec, has fought tough opposition. His opponents had a combined record of 17-0 when he faced them, not including the 3-0 Feldman. Welcome has only been stopped twice.
In addition to boxing, Malumbu is a physical trainer, actor, and hair stylist. He turned pro on October 23, 2016. In his second fight, he threw a good jab and landed some sneaky counters in a loss to Etienne van Kierk. Two more decision losses later and Malumbu took a year off. He was then stopped for the first time by Linda Ntshingila in the second round. Welcome stayed out of the ring for three and a half years.
In 2022, he fought competitively against Athenkosi Plaatjies before he battled Darrin Rossouw. In an interview with SA Boxing Talk after the fight, Rossouw described Malumbu as a tough guy. He said Malumbu was better than he had expected and had improved. He caught Darrin with a some good shots caused swelling around Roussouw's eyes. Six months later, Samkelo Mdletshe stopped Malumbu in the second round, saying in an interview that Malumbu had not been as good as expected and he and his coach figured Welcome out after the first round.
Malumbu hasn't fought in the ring in a year and half, but he'll represent a good challenge for Feldman at this stage of Josh's career. Feldman needs opponents who provide some kind of resistance. Malumbu has done just that against young undefeated prospects in the past.
Tomer Benny, the southpaw junior welterweight, has decided to delay his pro debut. He had been scheduled to fight this weekend in Mexico.
The Tel Aviv native now splits time between his hometown and Las Vegas in the United States where he has learned from Wayne McCullough and Floyd Mayweather Sr. He plans to fight in a local tournament in Vegas before competing in the under-22 European amateur championships in October.
Benny is looking to turn pro at the end of the year. There's no rush for the 19 year old. The delay will simply give him time to gain more experience. While in Vegas, he has already increased his boxing education by sparring with former world champion Jamel Herring and rising star Curmel Morton.
