He might not have staged his first tournament yet, but it seems that Kay B Promotions boss Mzi Booi has won the heart of Boxing South Africa (BSA) accounting authority Mandla Ntlanganiso.
This was evident when Ntlanganiso spoke in Beacon Bay, East London, where Mdantsane-born Booi had a successful launch of his promotional outfit on Sunday evening.
“Our values as Boxing South Africa talk about professionalism. Whatever that we do, and I commend Mzi, for the value of professionalism. I see something different. We need to provide leadership in everything that we do, starting from the gyms. That’s where leadership starts in order for us to have a good product in an event at Orient Theatre or ICC. It doesn’t start there, it starts at the gym. Therefore, it’s important for all those involved in the value chain of boxing to provide leadership so that our sport can be a leading sporting code,” Ntlanganiso said.
Ntlanganiso added: “We cannot take up licences as managers, promoters and promise young boys and girls that I’m gonna organise three, four fights for you, but we don’t deliver. As you take up the licence of BSA, what are you bringing on the table? If you are signing boxers, are you having the capacity to deliver or making sure that the tournaments you are promising to those boxers do happen? If not, what are you doing? We need to account. It’s not a matter of having a licence, but you can’t deliver.”
Ntlanganiso, who was a member of the BSA sanctioning committee before working full-time for the professional boxing regulator, further added that boxers are also expected to play their part in making sure that the fistic sport becomes one of the most successful sporting codes.
“Even boxers themselves need to be accountable so that whatever they bring for the fans we make sure that there is accountability,” Ntlanganiso remarked.
“We say we are a Mecca. What is a Mecca? A Mecca talks about the highest level of excellence. Do we have a boxing that is competing world wide? No, we don’t have. It’s a challenge. Let’s have a target to ensure that we build a boxing infrastructure that will be able to attract boxers from Gauteng, boxers drom Cape Town to come and train here when they are preparing for a fight.”
