By Monwabisi Jimlongo
Two prominent boxer managers have voiced their displeasure following the release of the controversial Boxing South Africa (BSA) October ratings.
Mlandeli Tengimfene and Alan Toweel have written to the ratings committee, which is led by its chairperson Willie Saayman, challenging some of the decisions around the October ratings.
According to the ratings preamble on the BSA website, ratings take consideration of all fights that took place between the first and last day of each month. But the October ratings, which replaced the September ones, cover only action that took place on the first of the month.
The September ratings, which have since been discarded were compiled by Andre de Vries, who left his position as ratings committee chairperson at the end of last month. Saayman, Khulile Radu and Mesuli Zifo compiled the much-talked about October ratings.
“I have written to Saayman regarding Sinethemba Kotana, who has been dropped from the ratings. Actually, I wrote to all the members of the ratings committee and even sent the same email to BSA board chairperson Luthando Jack. Kotana was number one and suddenly he’s out of the ratings,” Tengimfene, who also manages South African minimumweight champion Siyakholwa Kuse, revealed.
Kotana, who for the longest time was rated number one, hasn’t fought since his loss to current SA flyweight champion Jackson Chauke at The Galleria in Sandton, Johannesburg, in September last year.
On the other hand, Toweel has also penned an email to Saayman questioning the October ratings where his boxer Rofhiwa Nemushungwa has been dropped altogether.
“I wrote an email to Saayman and I wanna see if he will respond. Rofhiwa Nemushungwa was number four and has since been dropped out of the ratings, totally,” Toweel said.
“I explained to him Nemushungwa’s position. We were due to fight in the J4Joy tournament in December last year. The tournament never came off. We were then offered to fight in Elias Tshabalala’s tournament, which got postponed a number of times. It’s not my fighter’s fault.”
Toweel added that he’s surprised that Lusizo Manzana from Mthatha has remained in the ratings despite not having fought since his win over Mawande Mbusi early in July last year.
Nemushungwa also last fought in the same month when he lost to the late SA bantamweight champion Ronald ‘King’ Malindi in Middelburg.
“I have seen that Lusizo Manzana is number two even though he hasn’t fought for over a year too. He fought in July last year. How come is he getting preferential treatment by staying in the ratings? Nemushungwa lost by a split decision to the late Malindi in July last year and has been kicked out of the ratings,” Toweel remarked.
“My other boxer Vusi Ngcamu has gone down to number seven from number five in the ratings. Vusi fought a good fight and won against Sinenkosi Mlotshwa in March this year. Our boxers are being prejudiced now.”
Contacted for comment, Saayman said: “Many people have called me and complained.”
Meanwhile, Saayman and his committee have bizarrely rated Sifiso Hlongwane at number three in the junior-lightweight division despite his loss to Asanda Gingqi in a vacant SA junior-lightweight title fight in Orlando in August.
Hlongwane was controversially approved to fight for the SA title against Gingqi even though he was not rated in the junior-lightweight division at the time.
Notably, Akani Sambu is rated in second place in the September ratings. He has, however, been dropped to fourth place while Joshua Studdard whom he beat in a World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental bantamweight title fight on Sunday, 1 October, has moved up from 10th to third in Saayman and company’s ratings.
The mockery of the ratings is there for all to see, especially in the super-middleweight division where Lukhangele Jamjam is rated eighth even though he has lost all his four fights with three of them having been stoppages. Thando Mali is rated ninth in the same division despite losing three times and drawing once.
