Bongani Mahlangu is crying foul as he demands his belt from Rumble Africa Promotions (RAP) following his victory over Ayabonga Sonjica in July last year.
Mahlangu shocked East London boxing followers when he stopped then unbeaten Sonjica in the sixth round to win the South African and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Continental Africa junior-featherweight titles at the Orient Theatre.
To date, the 43-year-old Mahlangu is yet to receive his IBF belt, six months after winning his fight against Duncan Village-born Sonjica.
“I’m frustrated because I have not received my IBF belt since winning my fight against Sonjica. We have tried to get hold of the people from Rumble Africa Promotions and they are not taking our calls,” Mahlangu said.
Sandile Mahlangu, who is Mahlangu’s manager, said: “This is a problem. These people are not taking our calls anymore. We should have been given the belt after the fight. After having no joy because we were not getting the belt, we then contacted Andre de Vries, the IBF representative in Africa, seeking his intervention. Still, nothing happened after that. Teris Ntutu is not taking our calls. We are frustrated.”
Ink Sport contacted Ntutu, who said: “I’m not dealing with such matters. I’m told the matter is dealt with by our team. A simple procedure, if the new belt is not available on the day, the winning guy gets the old belt and return it when his new belt arrives, as to why it didn’t happen, I don’t know.”
Meanwhile, De Vries was busy when contacted and promised to come back to us.
