Finally the much talked about league to blast-off
THE much-vaunted boxing league will finally kick off in Mdantsane next Saturday with at least five provinces vying to collect the first points.
The league, coined Open Boxing League (OBL), was launched two months ago in Pretoria by Sports Minister Thulas Nxesi.
Inspired by the International Amateur Boxing Association (Aiba), it aims to keep boxers active between the world championships and Olympic Games. It is Aiba’s mission to discourage top amateurs from turning professional.
This decision has subjected Aiba to fierce criticism from professional world sanctioning bodies such as the WBC, as they feel it is an encroachment into their terrain.
However, federations have gone ahead to form boxing leagues, with SA kick-starting at boxing-mad Mdantsane, which has produced many top boxers over the years.
Funded by the Sport and Recreation Department, the league will feature all nine provinces divided into red and blue corners.
The Eastern Cape team, Badgers, will host four other provinces – Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal Northern Cape and Free State – in the red corner.
Gauteng, North West, Mpumalanga and Limpopo will compete in the blue corner. Ekurhuleni will host the blue corner teams the following Saturday.
SA National Amateur Organisation (Sanabo) president Andile Mofu is excited for the league to finally see the light of day.
“As you know we have been trying to get this project off the ground as early as last year but logistics did not allow us,” he said.
The original plan to launch the league in Port Elizabeth in June last year was postponed due to local government election preparations.
When the new structure took over at the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, a decision was taken to move the league to East London.
However due to the unavailability of former sports minister Fikile Mbalula, who wanted to personally launch the project, it was again shelved.
Next Saturday Badgers will take on Western Cape Foxes in the first round. Northern Cape Falcons and KwaZulu-Natal Whales will lock horns in another clash. Free State will enjoy a bye. Mofu said OBL will alternate between Mdantsane and Ekurhuleni on weekends with each province’s participation compulsory. Provinces are required to send a team of 18 boxers with three reserves.
They are also required to ensure that there is one boxer per division, with boxers not allowed to change weights or provinces in a season.
“A boxer will only be allowed to change provinces after being cleared by the OBL and in compliance with its rules,” said Mofu.
Boxers will be selected through trials and those in the national team are eligible to enter as well.
However, the boxers targeted should be those who will form the SA Team for the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Olympic Games. — Boxing Mecca FORMER boxing champ Paulie Malignaggi says he has no regrets about quitting Conor McGregor’s training camp, describing the mixed martial arts fighter as a “sc***ag” who surrounds himself with “a bunch of yes men”.
McGregor is preparing to face boxing star Floyd Mayweather in a Las Vegas boxing ring on August 26 in what could be one of the richest fights in history.
The 36-year-old Malignaggi, who retired from boxing five months ago, walked out of training camp last week after he said McGregor used him like a pawn, disrespected him in the dressing-room and housed him and the other sparring partners in dumpy accommodations.
“He’s a sc***ag,” Malignaggi said of McGregor in an interview on Monday with the American website The MMA Hour.
He also gave a detailed breakdown of how their sparring sessions went, no doubt providing Mayweather with a blueprint on how to beat McGregor.
Malignaggi, a former multiple world champion, said despite training little during retirement he had no trouble getting the better of McGregor.
Malignaggi said McGregor is more concerned about putting on a spectacle in training camp than getting ready for a serious boxing debut.
Malignaggi was also upset about training camp pictures made public that show the Irishman in a positive light.
“The guy is all about his ego. He’s actually not trying to get better. He’s got a bunch of yes men in his corner who tell him he’s doing good even if he’s doing bad. It is just about him and cheerleading,” said Malignaggi.
He said he asked McGregor to stop releasing misleading sparring photos that showed the MMA fighter getting the better of the exchanges. McGregor refused.
Malignaggi indicated that Mayweather should have little trouble with McGregor over 12 rounds of boxing as long as he goes to the body on a regular basis. — AFP