TAKALANI Ndlovu might have lost his International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior featherweight crown to Jeffrey Mathebula on Saturday night, but he is not done with the sport of boxing.

"I know that people will always talk and say that I’m done, but I’m still young, I’m still going up and I’ll bounce back again," he said.

In his second defence of the crown he secured with a unanimous points win over Canada’s Steve Molitor a year ago, Ndlovu found himself on the wrong end of a split decision at Carnival City, with only one judge scoring the fight 115-113 in his favor. The challenger, Mathebula, shaded the remaining scorecards 117-111 and 116-112.

Both fighters showed signs of damage at the press conference in the aftermath of the war.

"The other day it was not announced properly that our last fight was a controversial points decision," Ndlovu said in reference to the duo’s elimination battle for a shot at the crown in 2010. "This time he worked hard for the title. I’m very proud of what I’ve done in boxing through all the years."

Promoter Branco Milenkovic, who staged the fight as part of the African Glory 2 bill, pledged his support for Ndlovu.

"At this level, whatever Takalani decides we will support him. It’s a great pleasure to work with him," said Milenkovic.

"Maybe one of the possibilities is for him to move to featherweight, but we’ve got to see the calculated risk because we need to keep his rating in the IBF high," the promoter said.

"We’re going to sit and take a decision that is the best for Takalani."