After being paid by Boxing South Africa (BSA) for doing nothing following a very strange decision taken by the the board of the fistic regulator in September, Athenkosi Thongwana is now sweating buckets at the gym preparing to challenge Siseko Teyisi.
Thongwana, who is trained by Lonwabo Witbooi, challenges South African junior-flyweight champion Teyisi at the Orient Theatre in East London on Friday, 19 December.
“Thongwana’s matter has been resolved and he was paid. We are now busy preparing for his fight and we want to grab that title by any means,” Witbooi remarked.
The BSA board took a bizarre decision when it ordered that Thongwana be paid without the having fought a single round. This decision was taken after BSA failed to implement its own regulations and decided to take what was thought to be an easy way out.
The board overruled a decision of the BSA sanctioning committee following Xaba Promotions boss Ayanda Matiti’s appeal on Teyisi’s behalf. The sanctioning committee had approved Teyisi’s fight against Filipino boxer Elmar Zamora on condition that the Mdantsane boxer relinquished his SA junior-flyweight title.
Following a meeting a day before the Zamora fight, the BSA board said that the sanctioning committee’s decision fell short of appreciating the administrative injustice suffered by both Thongwana and Teyisi because of negligence of a third party.
“The board has, therefore, resolved to set aside this condition, which was attached to the approval of the IBF Intercontinental title,” BSA board chairperson Ayanda Khumalo said at the time.
The board admitted, though, that Thongwana had been prejudiced. Thongwana had sent a challenge form on the 17th of July and BSA only forwarded it to Teyisi a month and two days after it had been lodged.
“It is, therefore, not in dispute that the challenger has surely been extremely inconvenienced because of this unjustified lapse of time. For that reason, the challenger must be duly compensated for opportunity cost. An appropriate compensation for the inconvenience suffered by the challenger must, therefore, be determined and agreed upon,” Khumalo said.
After taking the decision, the board passed the buck and kicked the ball into BSA chief executive officer Tsholofelo Lejaka’s court, asking him to work with Thongwana’s handlers to determine how much he should be paid.
Khumalo said: “The CEO has, therefore, been mandated to work with the challenger to determine an appropriate amount guided by verifiable records, which must be offered as compensation for the loss of time suffered by the challenger due to negligence on the side of Boxing South Africa.” – Monwabisi Jimlongo
