A principled boxing administrator
Hunt was a doyen of SA fistic sport and a man of conscience
Born: April 10 1938 Died: June 17
Len Hunt, the doyen of South African ring officials, has died.
Hunt was born in 1938 at the Johannesburg Central fire station where his father was a senior fireman.
He was a globally recognised boxing referee, judge and administrator, a great raconteur and patriot.
Hunt, who was a boxing administrator for over 40 years, died at Linksfield Hospital in Johannesburg on Saturday, aged 79.
His wife Wendy said Hunt had had stomach problems and a hernia.
He had an operation last Wednesday and died on Saturday afternoon.
We have deliberately chosen to write about the man rather than his mastery of refereeing and judging professional boxing contests across the globe.
Radu – former secretary of the defunct SA National Boxing Control Commission – wrote: “My first acquaintance with Len was at Khaya Ngqula’s residence in Randburg many moons ago.
Len regaled me with stories of how he and trainer Theo Mthembu (late) used to smuggle black boxers into the then whites-only boxing gymnasiums in downtown Johannesburg.
“In those days, Khaya’s house was a rendezvous for the fledgling National Sports Council-aligned SA National Boxing Control Commission. Len was at the heartbeat of the formation of the SANBCC which he joined out of conviction and not out of frustration.
“Clearly, he could not reconcile his conscience with the fiasco of the Arthur Mayisela versus Harold Volbrecht fight which ended in a technical draw in 1986.
Len threw in the towel and resurfaced in the SANBCC as an executive member.
“In the SANBCC, Len had surrounded himself with dogged and resilient activists like the irrepressible doctor, Peter Ngatane, Dan Moyo, Koko Godlo, Junior Ramovha, Zolisa Mlahleki, Gwavu Dunjana, Archie Nyingwa and a young Bongani Magasela.”
In 1992, Hunt was part of a SANBCC leadership core which was invited to a historic WBC convention in Cancun, Mexico.
It was at this convention where Hunt established his credentials firmly as an internationalist in boxing matters.
The late respected WBC president, Jose Sulaiman, was impressed by his strong resolve on matters of principle and decided to hold the WBC’s annual convention in Johannesburg in 1998 for the first time.
Hunt is survived by his wife, Wendy, son, daughter and five grandchildren.
Rest in peace Comrade!