Boxing SA (BSA) will finally tackle poor ring officiating when it holds a training workshop in Bloemfontein in July.
The regulatory body has been forced to attend to the problem after tournaments were blighted by decisions that left the sport with a black eye and threatened to devolve into chaos.
The pandemic has led to unprecedented appeals by disgruntled managers to BSA to review fights amid cries about ring officials’ handling of bouts.
Some boxers have taken to social media to express their disgust amid threats of throwing in the towel.
BSA recently ordered rematches for two successive bouts in April after reviews rendered different decisions to those meted out by officials handling the bouts.
The body ordered newly crowned SA super middleweight champion Dylan Prosser to grant dethroned opponent Snamiso Ntuli a rematch after their bout in Cape Town.
The outcome unleashed a wave of discontent in boxing circles when Ntuli from KwaZulu-Natal was clearly robbed of his belt, prompting his camp to file an urgent protest to BSA to review the fight.
BSA appointed independent judges who, on scoring the fight from video, had Ntuli winning by scores of 115-113 and 118-110 twice.
Shortly afterwards, BSA was forced to review another bout which took place at the Guild Theatre on April 4, where Mthatha’s Sinovuyo Mthintelwa was declared the loser of his provincial flyweight title to Siyamthanda Mbali.
Again, the independent judges delivered a different outcome when they scored the fight 97-94 and 96-94 twice in favour of Mthintelwa, whose unjust loss tarnished his fight record with a first professional defeat.
BSA chief operations officer Mandla Ntlanganiso confirmed the body viewed poor ring officiating in a serious light and was in the process of addressing them.
It had previously suspended an Eastern Cape ring official after dubious officiating, including hitting a boxer with an elbow during a match.
The suspension was seen as papering over the cracks as more officials were guilty of similar offences.
Kirkwood-born female boxer Monalisa Takane vented her anger on social media after she was declared the loser in her Eastern Cape junior featherweight title clash against veteran Asandiswa Nxokwana in Scenery Park, KuGompo City, in March.
Takane claimed the referee conspired to ensure she lost the fight by deducting points from her during the bout.
Interestingly, in the same tournament KwaZulu-Natal trainer Mthokozisi Ndonyela confronted BSA provincial manager Phakamile Jacobs at ringside after his boxer, Ayanda Ndonyela, was surprisingly declared a loser by a fourth-round stoppage against Nolwazi Myingwa despite being the one throwing punches while pinning Myingwa in the corner.
Ntlanganiso said BSA appointed three experienced officials who had backgrounds in ring officiating to conduct the two-day workshop in Bloemfontein from July 17.
“The officials to handle the event are Siya Vabaza-Booi, Andile Matika and Howard Goldberg, and we are hoping our officials emerge refreshed and reinvigorated from the workshop,” he said.
Vabaza-Booi, from KuGompo City, comes with a wealth of experience, having become the first woman ring official in the country before being appointed as provincial manager, while Matika, from Mdantsane, is the IBO African commissioner, having also cut his teeth in ring officiating.
Goldberg is the president of the WBF with loads of ring-officiating experience.
Ntlanganiso said all ring officials, regardless of their category, would be catered to in the workshop.
“The objective is to connect with all ring officials and provide training and strengthen technical aspects while also promoting integrity and fairness of the sport and other critical governance matters.”
Daily Dispatch
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