Elias Tshabalala, who trains reigning IBO junior-bantamweight champion Gideon “Hardcore” Buthelezi, is confident that the Boipatong-born boxer will emerge victorious when he defends his crown against Filipino boxer Ryan Rey Ponteras at the East London International Convention Centre tonight. Tshabalala is confident of victory even though he has admitted that Ponteras is a closed book to them. A win from tonight’s fight will give Buthelezi a chance to fight against Dewayne Beamon in North Carolina in the United States in September. But Tshabalala insists that their focus is wholly on tonight’s contest.