Despite Buffalo City’s rich boxing heritage there is little showcasing it — but this is set to change after the East London Museum and nonprofit organisation Ubuntu Boxing Fraternity (UBF) signed a memorandum of understanding recently to market the region as a boxing hub.
The region is renowned worldwide, having produced numerous superstars and engraving the sport as a religion in many Eastern Cape — and SA — households.
As such, the museum and the NPO, which helps support destitute former boxers, have teamed up to document the history of the region, starting with the installation of information banners celebrating exploits of former local legends.
UBF secretary Vuyani Mbinda, a former boxer, said the initiative came about due to the lack of information available about the region’s boxing history, including the achievements of fighters such as Welcome Ncita, who was the first Buffalo City boxer to win a legitimate world title.
Ncita won the IBF junior featherweight title by beating Frenchman Fabrice Benichou in Israel in 1990.
Mbinda said the museum had requested a brief history of the achievements of 10 boxers who had put the region on the map.
“We decided to trace it right from the beginning when a group of boxers and their trainers went to turn professional in Durban as there was no professional commission in the BCM region,” he said.
Mbinda said it was crucial that no-one was left out, especially after the brouhaha in boxing circles on the selection of legends for the Mdantsane City mall display.
Some more deserving legends were omitted from the display at the mall’s entrance, while the quality of some of the photographs used were poor.
Mbinda allayed fears that this could happen again in the partnership with the museum, saying strict selection criteria would be applied.
“We will submit more names to the museum by April 2025 and continue until all our legends are captured.”
The NPO, launched in 2018, has been involved in charity work supplying groceries to former boxers.
However, its coffers dried up in 2021 when its funder withdrew due to financial challenges.
This also saw some of the NPO’s projects grind to a halt, with the monuments celebrating legends Nkosana Mgxaji and Mzukisi Sikweyiya still incomplete.
Mbinda appealed for assistance to ensure the region’s legends, many of whom died paupers, were not forgotten and that the NPO could continue with its much-needed support to struggling former boxers.
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