Less than a year after they signed a promotional contract, reigning South African female bantamweight champion, Sharadene Fortuin, and Ground Up Boxing Promotions have gone separate ways.
Fortuin’s manager, Lonwabo Witbooi, has insisted that there’s no animosity between them and the promotional outfit, which promoted the Seymour-born boxer’s last two fights.
“There’s absolutely no animosity between us and the promotions. We had a meeting where we agreed that we would step out of the promotional contract between Sharadene and Ground Up,” Witbooi said.
Witbooi added: “This does not mean that we will not work together in future. The door is always open if there’s an engagement and I feel that Ground Up can assist. Our professional relationship is still very much intact. We will continue working together even though we don’t have a formal agreement.”
It was under Ground Up Promotions that Fortuin defended her SA title for the third time and also made history by becoming the first female boxer in Africa to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) International belt.
Fortuin successfully defended her national crown with a win over Thema Zuma in Cape Town last December and then went on to defeat Zambian boxer, Alice Mbewe, to win the WBC International title at the Jan Smuts Stadium, KuGompo City, in May.
“I have expressed my gratitude to Ground Up for helping Sharadene become a WBC International champion, a record breaking achievement for her. None of that would have happened had it not been for Ground Up,” Witbooi concluded.
Fortuin, a former International Boxing Organisation (IBO) female bantamweight titlist, has been an SA champion for more than five years, having had the belt strapped around her waist after she outpointed Melissa Miller in August 2021. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
