The much-vaunted battle between SA champions Siyabulela Hem and Lindelani Sibisi has not yet been completely axed, despite Sibisi scheduling a fight against another opponent on March 28.
Hem’s promoter, Xaba Promotions (XP), said the Duncan Village boxer was still pursuing the clash, which would pit the SA junior featherweight champion against the featherweight king in a rare battle of reigning champions.
“We are still awaiting Boxing SA to give us an indication with regard to this,” XP boss Ayanda Matiti said.
BSA chief operations officer Mandla Ntlanganiso issued a statement rejecting the bout on the basis that Makhanda-born Mdantsane boxer Bongani Fule deserved the first privilege of battling for Sibisi’s title due to the challenge form he submitted in August.
Fule is the mandatory challenger to the KwaZulu-Natal champion, with his challenge having been endorsed by BSA, though the regulator’s sanctioning committee had approved Hem by virtue of him being a champion.
Quoting its sanctioning and championship policy, the committee ruled that Hem’s challenge superseded that of the mandatory challenger.
“A champion by virtue of his/her status as a champion has the first privilege to challenge a title in any weight division, provided he/she meets all other Boxing SA rules or policies applicable to the sanctioning committee,” the committee said.
However, concurring with Sibisi’s manager Colin Nathan, Ntlanganiso argued that Fule had submitted the challenge first and was therefore sanctioned to get a first bite at the title.
Fule signed a contract to fight Sibisi in Estcourt on March 28.
However, it has since surfaced that Ntlanganiso erred in endorsing Fule’s challenge ahead of Hem, whom he had treated as a voluntary challenger.
Asked if he stood by his earlier statement endorsing Fule to get first shot at Sibisi, Ntlanganiso admitted that there had been further developments.
“But for now we will inform all the parties involved of these developments before announcing them to the public.”
Fule’s camp said it was not aware of any further developments regarding the boxer’s challenge to Sibisi.
“As far as we know, the fight is still on for March 28,” Fule’s promoter, Mzi Booi, said.
However, in a ruling by sanctioning committee chair Irvin Buhlalu, it has been declared that Hem should get the first privilege to challenge Sibisi.
“In light of the administrative lapses in the Sibisi versus Fule negotiations and the expressed mandatory right of a champion, Siyabulela Hem, the committee has determined that a fair resolution must prioritise the regulator’s ‘first privilege’ afforded to a standing champion who has met all the requirements of the rules,” Buhlalu wrote.
XP’s Matiti, who had earlier scheduled the bout for March 20 in East London, said he was yet to reach a deal with the Sibisi camp.
“There is no question about who should get first privilege here because the rules are clear and the sanctioning committee cited them,” he said.
“The question might lie in whether the two camps agree on terms, failing which the promotional rights should go to purse bids.”
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