PLAN TO TAKE BOXING TO A NEW LEVEL READY
THE Premier Boxing League – the brainchild of former SABC television boxing commentator Dicksy Ngqula – will be launched on May 16 but Boxing South Africa’s (BSA) director of operations Loyiso Mtya already cant stop gushing.
“It will take South African boxing to greater heights,” said Mtya on Monday.
“In the past two years, Boxing South Africa has been looking for ways to take boxing to a level that would be appreciated by viewers,” Mtya said.
Ngqula said his concept was modelled on cricket’s Indian Premier League, where players from all over the world play for Indian teams in the richest T20 competition in the world.
He said the league would be made up of four weight divisions. All fights would be over six rounds.
“While you fight people in your division, you will also compete against boxers in other weight divisions on a points system. Part of our approach is to demystify the points system.
“Instead of reading a judges score of 60-58 to fans, the announcement will be made according to the number of rounds won. So a boxer who has won all six rounds, automatically leads the pack in terms of points. The points will then be added up at the end of a season. That is when the overall winner will walk away with the R1-million first prize,” Ngqula said.
The boxers, who will fight three fights over a period of a year, will each pocket R60 000 on fight night.
Mtya said this was a novel idea in local boxing, adding: “This had to do with how boxing is marketed and pre- sented. We have some of the best promoters, boxers and trainers in the country. The only thing that is needed is how to make it appeal to the youth and boxing fans.”
Mtya said BSA, who are in a partnership with Ngqula, is very happy about the idea because it is the first of its kind.
“It will run for five years. We will then review. The league will feature four weight divisions – flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight,” said Mtya.
He said any boxer registered in the respective weight divisions can apply to participate.
“So far 53 boxers have applied. We must chose four boxers per division. Those who meet the criteria will fight three times in a point-form sys- tem. They will earn R60 000 per fight in six rounds bouts. This means R180 000 per season that will start from June to early next year, ” he said.
Mtya said there were many funders, including Etv and the Eastern Cape Gambling and Betting Board.
He said the project will also involve a reality show: “Boxers will be followed by television cameras in their daily lives. They will come out as real role models. This concept is a madefor-TV design but we have to make sure that the conventional boxing programme is not tampered with. “Development promoters will be selected to stage fights in conjunction with Premier Boxing League. ”