The dearth of women boxers in the province is threatening to derail the success of the development programme between the provincial sport, recreation, arts and culture department and Boxing SA.
This was revealed by award-winning matchmaker Luyanda Kana after two government-funded tournaments could not feature a women’s bout as stipulated in the agreement of the programme.
The department shelled out a total of R1.2m between six promoters to stage tournaments which must involve a women’s bout across the province.
The first two shows in Ginsberg and Mthatha, staged by Fireworks Promotions and KM Sports, respectively, adhered to the agreement.
However, with the pool of women’s boxers depleting, two subsequent shows in Komani and Peddie could not feature a women’s clash as Kana battled to find boxers.
Kana lamented the shallow pool of women boxers as the reason and insisted that the stipulation by the programme needed to be revisited.
“There is still a long way to go in women’s boxing, and as much as I am also advocating for it, it is such a battle to find boxers ready to fight,” he said.
“There is also lack of commitment than was the case with past boxers such as Noni Tenge, Unathi Myekeni, Noxolo Makhanavu and the late Leighandre Jegels etc.
“Now you bill a female boxer in the show only to be told that she is not training and subsequently fails to honour the fight.”
Kana said the issue befell the scheduled flyweight bout between Okuhle Mthi and Mihle Tuli when Tuli pulled out at the last minute due to differences in her camp.
Due to the dwindling state of women’s boxing, some boxers have been forced to fight each other repeatedly, lessening public interest.
This has led to calls for BSA to beef up women’s boxing by passing a sizeable number in the sparring sessions currently under way to graduate amateur fighters to professionals.
With the Western Cape and Gauteng already having held their sparring sessions, the Eastern Cape leg, which was scheduled for February 14, has since been moved to March 14, robbing the programme of more women’s bouts.
Daily Dispatch
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.