SA’s most successful amateur boxing team coach, Andile Mofu, has urged boxers competing at the Commonwealth Games to replicate the 2006 success when the country won a gold medal.
The Games in Glasgow, Scotland, started on Thursday with boxing set to punch off on Friday when Simamkele Damesi opens the SA campaign with a clash against Ziggy Agathe from Mauritius in the 65kg category.
Damesi is one of four boxers representing SA at the Games, consisting of two males and two females.
While the selection of the quartet raised eyebrows, the SA National Boxing Organisation said they were chosen after a comprehensive selection programme based on recommendations by the coaching staff in consultation with the Sanabo national executive committee.
“The selection was primarily based on performances at past international competitions,” Sanabo vice-president Lwandisa Khwababana said.
Besides Damesi, from Cape Town, the team also consists of Masibulele Sigwela, from KwaNojoli (formerly Somerset East), with Thandolwethu Mathiba and Samukelisiwe Ncube, both females from KwaZulu-Natal.
The team coached by Nkosinathi Hlatshwayo and Moonyean Britz will be looking to better the performance of the country at the Birmingham Games in 2022, where the three representatives brought home two bronze medals.
Khwababana said selecting a smaller number of boxers was based on the available slots for the high-performance squad with the expectation of competing for medals.
“The objective is for every boxer to progress to the last eight or semifinals with the ultimate goal of winning a medal and proudly represent the country,” he said.
Boxing will be run under the supervision of World Boxing (WB) for the first time after the International Boxing Association (IBA) was stripped of the rights at the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics.
Sanabo timeously crossed over to WB before the Games to make SA boxers eligible to participate.
Mofu, who holds the SA record for winning the most medals at the Games, admitted that the team faced a stern test to replicate previous runs.
He was the SA team coach when the country won the highest number of medals in the history of the Games after bringing home four medals in Manchester in 2002.
He also led the country to winning the first and last gold medal at the Games when Bongani Mwelase achieved the feat in Melbourne in 2006, with Jackson Chauke falling short in the finals to settle for silver.
Mofu said the SA team could bring home another medal again if it had been properly prepared during camp.
“I think these Games will be the toughest owing to the new international federation, WB, overseeing them,” he said.
“Countries such as India, England and Canada will be the toughest as they will field deep and established teams with strong international performance history.
“But due to our previous performance, we stand a chance of winning at least one medal.”
Sigwela is the best medal hope for the SA team after his good run at the IBA International Championships in Dubai, where he won a bronze medal in the 57kg in December.
Duncan Village’s Simnikiwe Bonco won a bronze medal in the middleweight category in Birmingham, with KwaZulu-Natal’s Phiwokuhle Mnguni doing likewise in the women’s featherweight class.
Daily Dispatch
