Bert Blewett: Veteran boxing expert who pulled no punches 1933-2018
Journalist had a love-hate relationship with boxing — but love won by a KO
● Bert Blewett, the former doyen of South African boxing journalism who died in Durban last week at the age of 84, lost interest in the sport in his final years.
Longtime friend Ron Jackson said Blewett — who served in many roles, from TV commentator and magazine editor to sport administrator — had got rid of his collection of boxing books and videos over the past 10 years.
But it wasn’t the first time he had lost interest in boxing, having backed off in the 1960s because of the harsh nature of the sport — not so much for what happens inside the ring but rather the shenanigans outside of it. He couldn’t resist the allure for too long, however, and returned for a stint that spanned close on 40 years, until he retired in 2005.
As a journalist he didn’t shy from controversy, angering many promoters and administrators in his career.
He also wasn’t scared to criticise boxers. Boxing World magazine, which he edited for 27 years until 2004, carried an article about super-middleweight fighter Dingaan Thobela struggling with weight, under the headline “Tubby Thobela”.
The Rose of Soweto phoned him to protest, but Blewett responded in his genial but frank manner: “Dingaan, have you looked in the mirror lately?”
Blewett and Thobela later became cocommentators on SABC’s Blow By Blow programme.
“He’d never sit back,” recalled Thobela. “He always researched and he came with something new. I learnt a lot from him.”
Born in Durban on October 13 1933, Blewett had one direct experience of boxing as a kid, but after getting hit on the nose decided it was more fun outside the ropes. By 17 he had articles published in Fight magazine.
After school he found employment on the railways, and, having worked as an accountant, eventually became a company director in the private sector.
But he gave up the corporate life to focus on boxing full-time in the 1970s.
Blewett struck up relationships with influential boxing people around the world, including top US trainer Cus D’Amato, who managed world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson and later Mike Tyson.
Blewett, who was a bachelor until his death, never drank or smoked, unmoved by the vices enjoyed by many of his media colleagues.
Jackson recalled once seeing Blewett taking a sip of wine that had been placed in front of him during a luncheon “just to be polite, but then he pushed it away”.
The culmination of Blewett’s career was arguably his encyclopaedic book, The A-Z of World Boxing (1996). British commentator Reg Gutteridge wrote the foreword.
After licensees had revolted against the old South African National Boxing Control Commission in 1997, Blewett was brought in to assist on a transformation committee and he also sat on the ratings commission.
But he retired from that after a fight with Dumile Mateza, then acting CEO of the boxing commission.
After Blewett delivered his final broadcast at the Orient Theatre in East London on June 24 2005, he walked away from the sport, never to return. — David Isaacson