On October 12, 2024, the 25-year-old IBF light-flyweight world champion, Sivenathi Nontshinga (13-1, 10 KOs), faced a 32-year-old Japanese boxer Masamichi Yabuki (16-4, 15 KOs), in a title defense fight.
Nontshinga came in to the fight on a 1-fight win streak with a 71% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 7 months and 26 days. Yabuki was on a 3-fight win streak with a 75% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 6 months and 26 days.
Masamichi Yabuki stopped the champion via TKO in the 9th round of the 12-round world-title fight, and is crowned the new IBF light-flyweight champion. Yabuki improves his record to 17-4 (16 KOs), while Nontshinga adds a loss to his record at 13-2.
On November 4, 2023, the 24-year-old IBF light-flyweight world champion, Sivenathi Nontshinga (12-0, 9 KOs), faced a 24-year-old Mexican boxer Adrian Curiel (23-4-1, 4 KOs), in a title defense fight.
Nontshinga came in to the fight on a 12-fight win streak with a 75% KO rate, and was fighting after a gap of 4 months and 2 days. Curiel was on a 1-fight win streak with a 14% KO rate, and fighting after a layoff of 3 months.
Adrian Curiel made very easy work of Sivenathi Nontshinga, stopping the champion via KO in the 2nd. Curiel improves his record to 24-4-1 (5 KOs), while Nontshinga adds a loss to his record at 12-1.