‘Tikbox’ application turned down, practice now probed

A NEW trend of hosting and promoting TikTok star fights “for fun” – known as Tikbox – where people with disputes take each other on in the boxing ring, while the paying public watches, caused the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to express its concern over this practice.

The court commented that at first glance this matter seemed to be the typical quarrel, between business partners, bound by company laws, “ignited when riches arrive and memory fades – with the court left to determine the true terms of their bond”.

The court concluded that boxing contests between members of the public is against the good morals of society and participation in these matches could constitute organised crime.

Tikbox League Ltd, which turned to the court (the applicant), was described as a company that “conducts business as a promotion company, more specifically pertaining to the hosting and promotion of “for fun TikTok ‘star’ fights, in a safe and controlled manner”.

Francois du Toit, the first respondent, claimed that the business was his idea in late 2022 when he “began to realise” that various local social media influencers using the TikTok platform were on occasion having verbal altercations with one another.

These altercations were popular with the influencers’ following on TikTok and he decided it would be a profitable venture to arrange for them to meet in person for boxing events, which would be open to the public after they had bought tickets.

The first event was hosted in March last year and generated an income that became the centre of the dispute between the parties.

The applicant asked the court to declare Du Toit a delinquent director of Tikbox and asked that he be removed. It further asked that Du Toit and others involved in the boxing event be ordered to effect payment of the ticket sales to the applicant.

The court said that before it could determine this issue, it must first ensure the “purse was not filled with the proceeds of unlawful contracts and activities”. The court said boxing was tightly regulated by the South African Boxing Act and by the Safety at Sports and Recreational Events Act, to legalise the sport.