BSA ratings committee puts lives of boxers on the line
THE Boxing South Africa ratings committee has stoked the fires of controversy after making decisions that only serve to raise more questions than answers.
Inexperienced boxers have over the past few weeks found themselves in the ring with battle-scarred veterans in mismatches that should never have been allowed to take place.
BSA chairwoman Muditambi Ravele yesterday said she was concerned by some of the ratings decisions taken by the committee and that she will seek answers in the coming days.
‘‘ I will request an explanation from the committee to tell me exactly how they came up with these ratings,” Ravele said yesterday.
Attempts to get comment from ratings committee chairman Willie Saayman were unsuccessful yesterday.
Boxers run the risk of serious injury as, according to the rules, any boxer listed in the top 10 is eligible to challenge for the SA title.
A champion can chose to make a voluntary title defence against any fighter in the top 10 irrespective of whether the boxer is experienced or not.
This sort of arrangement gambles with boxers’ lives and this was never more evident than when war-marked Jasper Seroka fought 10-fight novice David Rajuili a few weeks ago. Seroka is a veteran of 30 fights with 26 wins against four setbacks.
Rajuili had never fought over six rounds and risked serious injury when he fought Seroka for the national junior lightweight strap.
The greenhorn was no match for the veteran and Rajuili eventually conceded defeat in the 10th round in what was a mismatched contest. The committee recently announced that all boxers will be rated according to what it termed ‘‘ result-based activity and inactivity, weight, performances and inadequate performances”.
The ratings have always been a source of controversy in local boxing, and the latest incidents have only served to highlight the dangers emanating from some of the contradictory decisions taken by the committee.
A case in point is 37-year- old Bared van Rooyen, who last fought more than a decade ago.
He made a comeback in August after a 12-year absence and stopped Elvis Ndlovu in the third round. Eyebrows were raised when Van Rooyen was suddenly rated at No 8 after one fight in the middleweight division. And then there is the case of Welcome Ntshingila, who last fought in 2012. Ntshingila is now rated at No 10 after just one fight, a win against Xolani Mvubu over four rounds.
Trinity Mhlongo has a win and a loss but already, he is rated No 7 in the junior middleweight class while Johnny Roos has a single loss but he occupies the No 4 spot in the super middleweight division.