Still holed up at a Manila hotel in the Philippines, award-winning South African boxing trainer Khangelani Jack and his boxer Siphamandla Baleni have at least an idea of when they will be able to return home.
Jack and Baleni were due to have flown out of the Philippines on Sunday after Saturday’s fight against Filipino boxer Regie Suganob, however, they couldn’t leave for South Africa following the United States of America (USA) and Israel bombing of Iran something which resulted in the closing of airspace in a number of Asian countries.
“All flights are fully booked. We are going to leave on the seventh. The flights have already been booked. We will fly to Singapore, then Addis Ababa before finally going home,” Jack revealed on Tuesday.
After travelling from Bohol following Baleni’s eighth round stoppage loss to Suganob, the duo spent more than 12 hours stranded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila until Floriezyl Podot from PMI Bohol Boxing Promotions booked them at a hotel on Monday.
Initially, Jack and Baleni were booked to fly from Manila to Doha in Qatar before taking a connecting flight to the OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park. However, that became impossible because of continued airstrikes by the Americans and Israeli on Iran. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
