Boxing South Africa (BSA) has ‘condoned’ the violation of clause 16 (1) of the regulations after the regulator failed to sanction boxers, who sneaked out of the country to fight in Tanzania without clearances on Boxing Day.
BSA bent backwards and overlooked its own regulations just to accommodate Asemahle Wellem, Lusizo Manzana and Sihle Jelwana, who deliberately broke the regulations in pursuit of a pay cheque.
Clause 16(1) says “any boxer who wishes to fight abroad shall either personally or through his or her agent or manager apply in writing to Boxing SA, at least 21 days prior to his or her proposed departure from the Republic, for authorisation to do so.
And 16 (2), says – An application contemplated in subregulation (1) shall contain the following information-
(a) Details of the overseas contract
(b) Details of the opponent
(c) Authenticated boxing records of the opponent
(d) A copy of the contract and details of the purse monies to be paid to the boxer, and
(e) Confirmation that the boxer will be accompanied by his or her manager or agent or that appropriate arrangements have been made for the boxer to be accompanied while abroad by a person who is duly licensed with the boxing commission of the country in which the boxer will fight abroad.
On the other hand, 16.4 (a) and (b) say BSA may ask a boxer to submit himself or herself to a medical examination before departure and after returning from abroad. The boxer is responsible for the costs of the medical examination.
Instead of coming down hard on the boxers so that others could see the regulator’s seriousness in matters relating to the violation of its regulations, BSA gave the fighters a slap on the wrist by sanctioning them to do community service.
For the record, Wellem lost to Frank Shagembe Katwila while Manzana was beaten by Ibrahim Mafia whose full name is Ibrahim Mustafa Kodema and Jelwana suffered a defeat in a fight against Hussein Amiri Chaubaya popularly known as Kalolo Amiri.
The sanction by BSA is a joke of monumental proportions, especially when one looks at the cases of Wellem and Jelwana, who lost by stoppages in their respective fights weeks before fighting in Tanzania.
Just over two weeks before facing Shagembe, Wellem was stopped in the eighth round by Conor Wallace in Australia. And Wellem should have been serving the compulsory three months instead of engaging in another fight just 18 days after being stopped by Wallace.
A month earlier, Jelwana suffered a first round stoppage loss to Tanzanian boxer Mchanja Yohana Bakari something which meant that he should have been serving 90 days when he returned to Tanzania to face Kalolo.
Clause 10(1) clearly states – if a boxer has sustained a knockout as a result of a blow to the head, his or her certificate of registration shall be automatically suspended for a period of 90 days during which period he or she shall not take part in any contact training.
It has to be remembered once again that Jelwana is a repeat offender, having fought in Russia against Armenian boxer Rufat Huseynov without getting a clearance from BSA in August 2021. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
