There was drama at the Insane Boxing Promotions tournament held at the Bellville campus of the Cape Peninsula University Technology (CPUT) on Friday evening.
Acting Boxing South Africa (BSA) chief executive officer Erick Nsikayezwe Sithole suspended ring announcer Devon Currer midway through the show and left the venue after that.
Sithole waltzed into the tournament venue and called a meeting with Insane Boxing Promotions boss Savva Savvas and BSA provincial manager in the Western Cape Mzoli Tempi. After the short meeting, Sithole suspended Currer, who had already announced six of the seventh bouts.
“Yes, I have been suspended. The guy didn’t even speak to me. He only spoke to Savva and Mzoli,” Currer confirmed.
Contacted for comment, Sithole said: “What I know is that Dev is not a licensee. I don’t know how he got into the ring. We are going to investigate that.”
Ink Sport can confirm that Sithole attended a Boxing5 Promotions tournament in Johannesburg in May and Currer was the ring announcer.
Currer’s suspension and Sithole’s comments are strange because the Cape Town-based ring announcer is due to appear before a BSA disciplinary committee on Tuesday next week. This is according to a letter Sithole sent to Currer last week.
Initially, Currer was due to appear before the BSA DC in Hatfield, Pretoria, on Thursday last week only for his DC appearance to be postponed to next week. Currer has been charged with grossly improper conduct and alternatively with bringing the sport of boxing into disrepute.
“Kindly be advised that your email and letters from your representative have been duly noted. We shall not respond to averments made therein and advised that due to the unavailability of the chairperson of the hearing, the hearing shall be postponed until the 29th August 2023,” Sithole wrote to Currer last week.
Sithole was responding to an email Currer sent earlier requesting a two weeks postponement of his case after the regulatory body had failed to furnish him with the exact details of his alleged transgressions.
Both Savvas and Tempi were not immediately available for comment as they were busy with the tournament.
