By Monwabisi Jimlongo
There’s no turning back for International Boxing Federation (IBF) representative in Africa, Andre de Vries, as he left the Boxing South Africa (BSA) ratings committee.
De Vries resigned from the BSA ratings committee after the board vetoed the sanctioning committee’s decision not to sanction the then vacant South African junior-lightweight title fight between eventual winner Asanda Gingqi and Sifiso Hlongwane in August.
The ratings committee had agreed with the sanctioning committee’s decision not to sanction the fight on the grounds that Hlongwane was not rated in the junior-lightweight division.
“I did the ratings for the last time and I’m finished with BSA now,” De Vries said.
In a letter he wrote to BSA board chairperson Luthando Jack in August, De Vries said: “Please accept this as notice of my resignation from the BSA ratings committee. This has come about the unprecedented sanction of a non-rated boxer’s challenge for a South African boxing title. Sanctioning this fight is an affront to ratings committee and makes a mockery of the ratings and the time and effort that goes into compiling the. My service will end with the ratings published at the end of September 2023.”
The BSA ratings committee argued in August that Hlongwane’s last opponent Ripfumo Shikwambane had lost seven fights in a row. And also his previous opponent Tamiwe Chisolola from Zimbabwe was stopped in all his three fights here in South Africa.
But despite that, the BSA board took an extraordinary step and sanctioned Gingqi’s fight against Hlongwane following three successive emergency meetings.
