Sugar Boy’s quest to find finest talent
Thulani “Sugar Boy” Malinga had the world at his feet after he beat Nigel Benn to win the WBC super-middleweight champion in March 1996 and financial institutions were beating a path to his door.
The fighter from Ladysmith‚ KwaZulu-Natal‚ introduced himself to the 55,000 boxing fans inside Lainside Telewest Arena in Newcastle‚ England‚ and to the world after he stunned a man few had given him a chance of upsetting.
Malinga made good money in those heady days and his flush bank account allowed him to buy a massive mansion in Benoni.
But his life was to make an unexpected turn in 2000 after a fire tragically razed his house to the ground with his grandson Sabelo trapped inside a wardrobe.
Malinga suspects that the fire was caused by faulty electric cables and he looks back at the tragic incident with pain that continues to torment him to this day.
‘‘Sabelo was inside the house playing and he hid himself in a wardrobe when the house caught fire.
‘‘We were unable to rescue him.
“He was always with me in the gym. Who knows maybe he would be a boxer today‚” said Malinga this week.
That tragic incident stayed with him during an emotional rollercoaster of highs and lows that saw him win and lose world titles with monotonous regularity.
The boxer would eventually retire in the year 2000 after losing the IBA light-heavyweight belt to Ole Klemetsen via an eighth round TKO in what his 13th defeat from 57 bouts.
Those glamour days are long behind the now 63-year-old and he is focused on transferring his experience and skills to the youth in Ladysmith‚ Alexandra in Johannesburg and Katlehong in Ekurhuleni.
‘‘‘I run with them‚ do all kinds of exercises. I take those that are interested in boxing to my Sugar Boy Boxing Academy and that is where we pay attention to pure boxing.
“I also teach them about clean living because I‚ personally‚ lived clean my entire boxing career. Even today I don’t smoke or drink alcohol.”
Malinga says former world champions Lehlohonolo “Hands of Stone” Ledwaba and Welcome “The Hawk” Ncita are pursuing the same route and they are committed to producing future world champions.
“We want to build champions of tomorrow because talent is galore here at home. It just needs to be honed properly,” he said.
‘‘We will have a tournament in East London where our boys will be in action on March 2.
‘‘The bigger picture is to produce boxers that will represent our country in the Olympics. We never got the opportunity to go to the Olympics; it is there for our youth.”