The hype over the revival of boxing in the Buffalo City region has been dampened after the tournament scheduled for Sunday at East London’s Orient Theatre was cancelled.
The tournament was set to showcase Siyakholwa Kuse defending his SA mini-flyweight belt against former stablemate Malakhi Sobolo, while former world contender Nhlanhla Tyirha was scheduled to make his ring return, ending more than a year of inactivity.
However, uncertainty over the BBB Promotions show going ahead started creeping in when the organisers failed to respond to media queries.
Matters escalated when Kuse was said to have suffered a dog bite last week, which resulted in the tournament being postponed until this Sunday.
Some insiders claimed Kuse’s wound on his hand from the dog bite did not warrant a postponement, while others claimed the organisers were waiting for the conclusion of the Viva Nations TV deal as BBB Promotions was one of the promoters, having entered into a partnership with Arena Holdings.
The streaming service company is owned by Arena Holdings.
However, Arena Holdings group content officer Bongani Siqoko said the company did not have a hand in cancelling the tournament.
“No we were not involved in that, you better ask the organisers,” he said.
One of BBB’s directors, Ntsikelelo Manyisane, who could not be reached for comment since the tournament was announced, issued a statement confirming the show was cancelled.
“This serves to regrettably advise you on the decision to cancel the fight scheduled for August 11,” the statement said.
“The cancellation is due to our inability to reach a consensus with our sponsors on key operational matters.
“Instead of postponing again, BBB Promotions is of the view that we must cancel the tournament and restart negotiations with our sponsors without the pressure of time.”
The Daily Dispatch can reveal there were concerns about the short period between the finalisation of Viva Nations TV’s deal with promoters, which was only concluded two weeks ago.
Siqoko had confirmed that legal issues had caused the delay in the finalisation of the deal involving two East London promoters, with the other being KayB Promotions, whose tournament is scheduled for August 25.
Kuse’s manager, Mla Tengimfene, denied that the boxer’s injury was used as an excuse to stall the tournament until the organisers resolved their challenges.
“I have a doctor’s medical report which ordered Kuse to lay off training for a while,” he said.
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