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Terry Flanagan will defend his WBO lightweight title on July 9 in Manchester, in the main undercard bout on the big Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko rematch card. That much was expected. Not expected is that he'll be doing it against Mzonke Fana, a fighter who hasn't been a real contender in quite a while.
Fana, now 42, is a former two-time world titleholder at 130 pounds. He beat Malcolm Klassen to win the IBF title in 2007, losing it to Cassius Baloyi in 2008 after one successful defense. He beat Baloyi in a 2010 rematch to win the belt again, then never defended it, and was out for almost two years before returning as a lightweight.
Since his return in 2012, he's gone 9-4, losing to Sipho Taliwe, Paulus Moses, Edis Tatli, and most recently, Hedi Slimani last November in Belgium. He's fought twice since then, winning a pair of fights in South Africa in December and March.
In his prime, Fana (38-9, 16 KO) was a good fighter, but this is not his prime. Flanagan (30-0, 12 KO) has been on a good run, beating Jose Zepeda due to injury to win the WBO belt, and defending successfully against Diego Magdaleno and Derry Mathews.