Boxing confusion

BOXERS and their managers at the Boardwalk Casino in Port Elizabeth were yesterday left confused, not knowing if they would be allowed to get into the ring in the Premier Boxing League (PBL) tournament.

This follows a shock decision by Boxing SA to cancel the tournament, citing a breach of rules by the organisers.

Although BSA chairwoman Ntambi Ravele could not be reached for confirmation, it is believed that the tournament scheduled for today was called off when organisers deposited the purses of the boxers at the last minute.

According to boxing rules, purse money should be deposited 30 days or at least 14 days before the tournament.

However, BSA has been allowing promoters to deposit the money a day before the tournament for some time until a new board led by Ravele decided to enforce the rule.

Faced with astronomical expenses of flying and booking boxers and their managers, PBL boss Dicksy Ngqula challenged the decision to call off the tournament at the Gauteng High Court.

Boxers were left waiting for the court outcome and when it took longer than expected, the weigh-in was conducted, albeit unofficially.

A court judgment on the matter is expected today.

BSA Eastern Province representative Mthunzi Mapitiza said he decided to conduct the weigh-in and record the weights of the boxers.

“We felt it was unfair to them because they had not eaten anything so we decided to weigh them unofficially so that they can go and have a meal,” Mapitiza said.

However, that did not help Aphiwe Mboyiya and Oscar Chauke, who will contest the featherweight division. Both were overweight and had to go for a run, with only Chauke managing to reduce the excess weight.

After numerous runs, Mboyiya could not make the 57.15kg and was 35 grams over the limit. He agreed to forfeit a percentage of his purse to Chauke.