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South African boxing has been going down the drain for quite some time.
Days when fights were held at venues such as the former South African football Mecca – Soweto’s Orlando Stadium – and Durban’s Curries Fountain are but a fading memory.
The number of world champions that the country is producing has been dwindling at an alarming rate.
The Eastern Cape is the only area that still manages to put up some decent fights regularly, and then there is Golden Gloves Promotions, which stages most of their fights in Gauteng.
So deep in the doldrums is the sport that Boxing SA (BSA) does not even have a full list of national champions.
Even the few reigning champions are such unknowns that even staunch followers of the sport would struggle to rattle off their names.
The sport needs a strong partnership between BSA board chairman Dr Peter Malefetsane Ngatane and CEO Tsholofelo Lejaka to grab it by the scruff of the neck, shake it out of slumberland and drag it screaming and kicking to dizzy heights.
And I’m afraid Ngatane, appointed by Sports Minister Thulas Nxesi as chairman this week, is not that man. The medical doctor – whom I can easily count among the small group of individuals I refer to as “friend” – is a very nice guy, but good and more so nice guys rarely make great leaders.
This is Ngatane’s third coming as chairperson. There is hardly a legacy he can point to since his last two stints at the helm of this sport.
In his attempt to reinvigorate boxing, Nxesi’s predecessor, Fikile “Mr Razzmatazz” Mbalula, seconded the energetic Lejaka to BSA as CEO.
The bright and sharp Lejaka has done his best to get the administration onto the straight and narrow. All he needs now is a similarly energetic chairman who will come up with bright ideas to take the sport back to where it once was.
And the good old medico, whose practice deals with the health of the female reproductive system and the breasts, is not that man.
In fact, I don’t see board members Matilda Kabini, Khulile Radu, Mzamo Gumbi and Luthando Jack resuscitating a boxing fraternity that has been in the ICU for so long. I cannot say much about their colleagues Gilberto Martins and Letlhogonolo Noge-Tungamirai, as I don’t know them.
Why? you may ask. Well Radu, Jack, Kabini and Gumbi were members of the board, led by Muditambi Ravele, whose term recently ended.
And trying to find their achievements and the legacy this past board is leaving would be tantamount to searching for a needle in a haystack.
It was under their watch that the SABC, who has been a major benefactor of boxing over the years, entered into a multiyear broadcast partnership with Extreme Fighting Championships (EFC), which started in February. EFC is regarded as the leading mixed martial arts organisation in Africa.
As things stand, BSA do not have any broadcast deal with anyone. The sport does not enjoy many sponsorships to keep it afloat.
Nxesi was quoted this week as saying: “This board has a combined experience of 50 years in boxing and sport, therefore their experience and wisdom will help move boxing to greater heights.”
I have bad news for the minister.
Under this board, boxing will remain stagnant until 2020, when their term ends. There is advice about trying to teach an old dog new tricks.
This was a missed opportunity for the minister to appoint a young and vibrant board well versed in the modern machinations of the sport – people who would help bring in some seriously needed revenue and stage more quality tournaments that would result in more bums on seats.
At a time when Bafana Bafana are misfiring, the Boks are radarless and the Proteas continue to choke (Ouch! That C word again!), Nxesi has lost a huge opportunity to at least leave the legacy of having revived one of the once BIG sports in the county.
There is also a saying about missed opportunities, Mr Minister.
