BSA DECISIONS MEAN TOUGH NEWS FOR PROMOTERS
Regulatory body wants tournament funds in two weeks time amid rift
Boxing South Africa has had enough of promoters who set up tournaments, and then don’t put down the necessary cash at the ‘right time’
The wars of money deposits between promoters and Boxing SA is set to resume after the regulatory body announced that it would cancel tournaments if funds were not available in two weeks time.
This was revealed by BSA chief executive Tsholofelo Lejaka after a board meeting in Pretoria two weeks ago.
Although the meeting was preplanned, it ended up being forced to vigorously discuss the time-frames in which promoters should deposits funds for tournaments.
This after a brouhaha erupted when Xaba Promotions was allowed to continue without purse-monies.
Although board chair Peter Ngatane, board member and sanctioning committee head Khulile Radu as well as XP boss Ayanda Matiti could not explain why BSA director of operations Cindy Nkomo cancelled the tournament.
Now the board has gone back to the thorny issue of demanding funds two weeks in advance although this caused it to butt heads with promoters, with their battle often leaving the regulatory body with a bloodied nose after losing court cases.
Promoters have insisted that they had a right to be given until the day of the weigh-in to deposit all outstanding funds.
But BSA says at the beginning of this month it has introduced a requirement that every application for a tournament date must be accompanied by a nonrefundable R450.
The application must also have signed contracts by the two boxers fighting in the main and supporting bouts.
There should also be proof of the 10% of contracted purses.
Provincial managers will not accept any application that does not meet the requirements.
The terms were taken in the board meeting and adopted as resolutions and an enforcement of regulations.
However already there is discontent among promoters with some questioning why such decisions were not taken in consultation with them.
“Bottom line here is that we as promoters are the ones that ensure boxing activity so it will be illogical to take decisions without consultation,” said one promoter who wanted to remain anonymous as he is still have a pending case with BSA.
Eastern Cape Boxing Promoters Association (ECBPA) chair Thando Zonke said he would meet with his constituency to discuss the matter.
But BSA had already fought with promoters around this issue when it cancelled tournaments on the basis of absence of funds two days in advance.
In one of the cases, it emerged with a bloodied nose after the erstwhile ECBPA took it to court after calling off Dicky Ngqula’s Premier Boxing League (PBL) in Port Elizabeth in 2014.
The court ordered the show to continue and when BSA attempted to cancel another show in Bhisho again it lost the case days later.