Licensed and unlicensed boxers who continue to sneak out of the country to fight abroad remain a source of concerned for Boxing South Africa (BSA).
As recently as last month, former South African and world champion Nkosinathi ‘Mabhere’ Joyi fought in Tanzania against Abeid Zugo whose birth name is Abeid Kessy Kassongo even though he’s not a BSA licensee anymore.
Zugo is the same boxer who defeated Simphiwe ‘V12’ Vetyeka in Tanzania last December. The former SA and world champion held a BSA trainer’s licence at the time.
“I wrote a strong worded letter to the Tanzanian Federation general-secretary George Silasi,” acting BSA chief executive officer Mandla Ntlanganiso revealed.
“We have already started engagements with all African federations or commissions. We had engagements with Zimbabwe, we had engagements with Namibia. We are on the verge of engaging with all other functioning bodies. The reason is to have co-ordinated relations in Africa.”
Not so long ago, erstwhile SA junior-middleweight and middleweight titlist Nkululeko Mhlongo fought in Albania. Mhlongo, who fought in Albania using a licence from the Federation of Congolese Boxing of the Democratic Republic of Congo, was stopped in the fourth round by Senad Drini.
Meanwhile, BSA board member Nande Mheshe is going to chair the Women In Boxing programme, which was previously chaired by Zandile Kabini.
The latter resigned from the BSA board in August 2022 and was replaced by controversial Khulile Radu in October the same year. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
