Simpiwe Konkco: The Resilient South African Boxing Star
Simpiwe Konkco is a South African minimumweight who challenged WBC champion Wanheng Menayothin in October 2019. Menayothin won the 12-round fight by unanimous decision in Thailand, retaining his title.
Konkco also held the WBA profile-listed record of 20 wins, seven losses and seven knockouts. The title challenge was one of his highest-profile bouts against international opposition.
The 2019 WBC challenge
The contest took place on October 25 at City Hall Ground in Chonburi. Menayothin, also recorded as Chayaphon Moonsri, entered as the defending WBC minimumweight champion. His twelve-round victory extended his unbeaten record to 54–0 at that time.
Boxing247’s contemporary report identified Konkco as the mandatory challenger and noted that he had not lost since September 2015. The defeat ended that stretch without a loss, leaving him at 19 wins and six defeats immediately after the bout.
Results before and after Thailand
The WBA record documents earlier contests against Siyabonga Siyo, Lito Dante and Toto Landero. The Landero meeting took place on July 22, 2018, and ended in a twelve-round unanimous decision. The video above features that contest, rather than the later Menayothin challenge.
Konkco returned to the ring against Ariston Aton in Sun City on April 9, 2022, winning a ten-round decision. He subsequently lost to Garen Diagan by a seventh-round stoppage in Pretoria that October.
Those dated results explain why his record after the 2019 title challenge differs from the later total on his WBA profile. Keeping the chronology clear allows the Thailand performance to be assessed within his broader career.
