By Monwabisi Jimlongo
South African ring official Pumeza Zinakile regards attending the IBF convention currently underway in the United States as some form of empowerment.
The Mdantsane-born referee and judge is one of the two South African ring officials attending the convention at the Westin Hotel and Resorts in Long Beach, California.
Experienced referee and judge Deon Dwarte from Cape Town is the other South African ring official attending the IBF convention, which started on Tuesday and will come to an end on Saturday.
“It’s very important to attend these conventions because you get to meet many people who are clued up and are more knowledgeable. I’m not undermining us South African officials. We meet experienced people who have travelled around the world for boxing business,” Zinakile said.
Zinakile, a niece of former International Boxing Organisation (IBO) flyweight and junior-bantamweight champion Zolile ‘Bone Crusher’ Mbityi, is attending the IBF convention for the first time.
She has insisted that one has to make a sacrifice and dig deeper into the pockets in order to be able to attend the convention.
“Attending these conventions is very expensive. But it’s very important to attend these conventions when you love boxing,” she remarked.
The 40-year-old mother of two, who has been a ring official since 2009, has so far officiated in 12 IBF fights and is yet to officiate in World Boxing Council (WBC) bouts.
