Cacophony of gym personalities keep fistic fighters firmly on their toes

Boxing is often plagued with controversy, squabbles and constant bickering.

There is more fighting outside of the ring rather than inside.

As part of continuing to highlight the good that exists in boxing the humorous side of boxing springs to mind.

As brutal and bloody a sport as it is there are also a number of funny stories to tell.

Many of these light-hearted moments take place behind closed doors in boxing gyms.

Funny enough a lot of boxing gyms have similar stories and personalities that brought about laughter to training routines, sparring and exercise sessions.

Come to think of it, especially in the old days, every gym had that one dedicated guy that never missed a single training session.

This is the guy who was often older than all the boxers in the gym and loved by everybody, not for his dedication nor mastery of the craft but for the laughter he brought to training sessions.

This is the dedicated older guy who struggled with every single exercise and the very same guy who could not get any of the basics of boxing right.

Yet the same guy who is willingly prepared to spar with anyone and obviously make a mess of that sparring to the amusement of his stablemates.

Those types of characters made going to gym something worth looking forward to, because gym became a time to have fun and laughter while learning and training.

And then you have those mysterious characters who pop out of nowhere and cause chaos and destruction in the gym and disappear and are never seen again.

These are the quiet, mean types.

A majority of them outskirts or outside of mostly for holidays or

This guy is not well-acquainted with other boxers in the gym. He comes in, trains and goes home... quietly too.

Trouble only begins when the trainer decides to “initiate” (“ukumntlonta”) him into the club and lets him spar with one of the stars in the gym so that the star can “polish” a few aspects of his game.

Sparring begins and, as you would have it, all hell breaks loose when the unknown came from the the townships, having just relocated. guy obliterates the star with little or no skills but brute force and power, to the surprise and disappointment of the trainer and the other boxers in the gym.

Guys like that were often useful to “straighten” wayward “prospects” and they instantly earned the respect of their peers amidst whispers of them being “igadalala” (tough one).

The funny part about those characters though is that as if to intimidate and prove a point to the so-called stars they often missed gym, but they never missed sparring days.

These guys never took boxing seriously, with their their sole purpose being just to put on gloves and fight.

These are just a few of the numerous hilarious scenes that take place in gyms.

Boxing was fun and boxing gyms provided an escape from the harsh realities of the daily lives of those who took part in the sport.

Boxing gyms, as much as they were a place to learn and train, also shaped and nurtured many personalities and provided much-needed humour to this harsh sport.