Local professional boxing gets world attention
Local pugilist Onkarabile ‘ Scara’ Mothibedi’s victory against Tshepang ‘ Gearbox’ Babui for the vacant WBF Super bantamweight international that confirmed him as the country’s first ever professional boxing champion to win at home. To this end the Professional Boxing Association of Botswana ( PBAB) President Tsietsi Kebualemang is confident the sport is poised for greatness in the future. In an interview this week, Kebualemang said there is a lot of ground to cover and a lot of opportunities to be explored by local professional boxers and promoters. “We applaud the champion and the organizers of the fight for a job well done, this was the first of its kind event in the country.”
He explained that the tournament and the title had put professional boxing on the international map and has brought a lot of recognition to the country as a sleeping professional boxing giant. He also believes there will be more work done to have world class events hosted here.
According to him, the event did not only bring fame, but fortune will also follow. “This is the best time for our boxers to seize the moment and get involved in the sport, they can be employed by the sport and make a lot of money from it alone.”
Moreover, he said the event, organized by the World Boxing Federation ( WBF) has attracted a lot of attention across the world. “We have had a lot of attention from the World Boxing Organization( WBO) and the World Boxing Association ( WBA) since we have a champion here; we believe they will also stage their events here,” he said.
Kebualemang believes that professional boxing now has a direction and a path to follow, since the champion will have to defend his World Boxing Federation ( WBF) title in six monthstime, “we want the fight to be hosted here, it will improve the tourism sector and the economy of the country, among other things.” Reached for comment, WBF World Champion Onkarabile Mothibedi said he is proud to be in the history books as the first Motswana to win a world title, “this has built my status and my reputation, I am not just the best, I am a role model to many upcoming boxers and I should inspire them as well as influence them positively.” Quizzed if he is ready to defend the title, Mothibedi said he will travel across the world to defend his title, “I am ready to defend the title, it does not matter who is the challenger, I am willing to defend the title anywhere across the world.” Mothibedi of Top 10 boxing stable won the World Boxing Federation ( WBF) Africa Super bantam weight title through a unanimous decision after 12 rounds of a highly contested bout held a Gaborone International Convention Center ( GICC) several weeks ago.