The hosting of boxing tournaments in the Buffalo City Metro was dealt yet another blow after the SA mini-flyweight title clash between champion Mthokozisi Ngxaka and Thinumzi Gqola was moved to Johannesburg.
The move came even though both boxers and their promoter, Last Born Promotions, are from East London.
The region regarded as the boxing mecca in the country has suffered a dearth of top boxing shows due to the absence of funders, leading to the dwindling number of active promoters.
Only two promoters, Xaba Promotions and KayB Promotions, have been keeping the fires burning, with others being active when allocated provincial government development funding.
Only five tournaments have been held in the region in 2025 so far, with Xaba promoting two of them, underlining the inactivity boxers are subjected to.
Last Born Promotions announced it had agreed to let Ngxaka make the maiden defence of his SA title against Gqola under Johannesburg-based Glove and Glory Promotions at the Portuguese Hall in Johannesburg on August 17.
Ngxaka, from Mthatha, trains at the All Winners Boxing Club in Mdantsane, managed by Mlandeli Tengimfene, with Gqola also coming from the township under former SA flyweight champion Ncedo Cecane’s tutelage.
Tengimfene said the decision to take the fight to Gauteng was influenced by the financial offer he received from Glove and Glory Promotion.
“All the funding for this fight is coming from Gauteng, so we could not turn it down because our financial muscle did not allow us to stage it ourselves,” he said.
Tengimfene, whose Last Born Promotions bankrolled its tournament, topped by Ngxaka beating KwaZulu-Natal’s Thami Luthuli to win the title in East London in March, confirmed that it was increasingly hard to organise shows in BCM without funding.
“I wish our municipality could help the promoters in this regard; otherwise, our boxers will continue leaving for other cities with financial muscle.”
Tengimfene is smarting from the biggest loss when his star, Siyakholwa Kuse, defected to the Brian Mitchell Academy in Johannesburg despite reviving his drug-blighted career and guiding him to the verge of a WBC title challenge.
Kuse was the latest in an exodus of BCM boxers defecting to Gauteng boxing clubs, including Duncan Village’s Phumelela Cafu.
The lack of BCM boxing support has been widely flagged as one of the reasons for promoters’ inactivity in the region, with only Xaba enjoying television backing while KayB funds its tournaments from its own pocket.
This is contrary to their Nelson Mandela Bay counterparts who benefit from funding by the municipality.
Tengimfene said Ngxaka had already left for Gauteng to acclimatise.
Daily Dispatch
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