Rapapali says he is ready to take on the former Bafana Bafana, embracing the pain of training while raising funds for his foundation.
Jacaranda FM radio show host Mack Rapapali and former Bafana Bafana football star Mark Fish will go head-to-head in a charity black-tie fight night next month.
Rapapali said he had mixed emotions about the fight on 5 September at Silverlakes Hotel in Pretoria East.
“I am excited and at the same time, I’m like, Mack, there you go again. But there is a bigger goal. It’s about making a difference in communities through my foundation, Step By Step,” he said.
Rapapali said he wasn’t scared because he was training hard.
Training hard for the challenge
“My favourite part of boxing is the sparring sessions. I like the bliksem-me-hard session. I like it when my nose hurts for two weeks, like now. I like the pain,” he said.
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“I haven’t trained this hard in my life before. I have trained to the point where I want to throw up. I have come close many times. I wore a large size when I started training, and now I am down to a medium and small.”
He added: “Discipline is the biggest lesson I have learned. I now know how to look at situations from a different angle.”
Ambitions beyond Mark Fish
Rapapali said he also wanted to fight dethroned UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis.
“The next fight will be at Loftus in November. I heard some of the Bulls might want to fight, or Riaan Benade,” he added.
Rapapali’s coach, two-time world champion Sebastiaan Rothmann and owner of Sebs Elite Boxing Club at Loftus, said: “I didn’t coach Mack; he coaches me. He is an unbelievable human being and what he brings to the atmosphere is what you want to bring out in him. Coaching him is so easy.”
