Mpucuko Sports Development’s annual amateur boxing series will launch in Somerset East on Saturday, in recognition of the region’s boxers’ outstanding performances in 2023’s inaugural event.
The series enters its second year after a successful 2023 inauguration, which saw amateur boxing clubs from around the province battling for supremacy, and culminating in the finals in East London in March 2024.
In 2023, the event punched off in Mdantsane — the home of boxing — and proceeded to other regions as aspirant boxers showcased their talent.
Boasting a bevy of corporate sectors including the Eastern Cape Gambling Board and cellphone giants, the series is widely regarded as the best boxing development initiative affording boxers from remote areas a platform to prove their mettle.
While the second edition was expected to kick off in Mdantsane again, the performance of boxers from the Sarah Baartman district during 2023’s edition, when the region produced the male boxer of the tournament, Masibulele Liwani, convinced the organisers to launch 2024’s series in Somerset East.
“It was great to see how this series has galvanised boxing in the Sarah Baartman district, so we decided to take the launch there,” Mpucuko director Ncedo Cecane said.
Already a new boxing club, Modern, has been baptised in the region, sparking a flood of youngsters keen to follow a career in the sport.
Cecane said the response was in line with the programme’s objectives to unearth talent and provide a platform for boxers from disadvantaged areas to display their talent.
“We are delighted with how this programme has gone deep at grass-roots level to unearth talent.
“One would have expected the boxer of the tournament to come from well-known boxing regions such as Mdantsane, Duncan Village or Mthatha but for Somerset East to upstage them speaks volumes about this programme.”
As has been the norm, 30 bouts featuring clubs from Makana, including five women’s matches, will kick-start the series, with the winners again being awarded medals.
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