Cheers of “and the newwww” reverberated through Gqeberha’s Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport on Tuesday as scores of people welcomed gold medal hero Ayabonga Meko before he was whisked away to an official reception at the Sarah Baartman municipality offices on Tuesday.
Meko returned from the Eurasian Dauria Cup youth championships in Russia where he became the first SA boxer to win gold in Europe in the youth category at the weekend.
The 18-year-old did not understand the enormity of his feat in beating boxers from countries boasting strong amateur backgrounds such as Cuba and Russia.
Meko beat Russian Ivan Dobrinin on points in their 57kg clash which was voted as the best of the tournament.
He sounded surprised when told that he was the first SA boxer to win a gold medal in Europe (Russia’s territory extends across both Europe and Asia).
“I was not aware of that, but this is the beginning of big things to come,” the youngster said.
Meko and Oyisa Wanga represented SA at the games under coach Luyanda Dibela, after both won gold medals at the African Youth Games in Namibia in July.
The international accolade was the second for Meko, a grade 10 pupil at Johnson Nqonqoza Senior Secondary School in New Brighton, KwaNojoli (formerly Somerset East), having also claimed gold at the African Boxing Confederation championships in Guinea in May.
Nicknamed “Skorobho” (mopper), Meko attributed the win to a rigorous training regimen at the Modern Boxing Club under Siyabulela “Babes” Makala.
“At Modern we train like there is no tomorrow and that helped me in Russia because I could do anything I wanted,” he said.
“Tar Babes has always emphasised the importance of physical training as a basis for executing a game plan and fight strategy.”
Meko picked Cuban boxer Yeronne Veitia, whom he beat in the first round, as the toughest of his opponents at the games in Russia.
“I was not aware that Cuba is such a strong country in the amateur level but the excitement before our bout told me that I had to be at my best to win because he had such a big following.”
Makala said he decided not tell Meko that he would be up against a tough opponent in Veitia before their bout.
“I did not want to dilute his enthusiasm, but I told him he should do what we trained him to do,” he said .
Meko’s win is a consolation for Makala, who nearly quit boxing after the tragic death of his woman boxer Thapelo Bokwe, 25, who passed away in July after reportedly complaining of a severe headache.
Having introduced Bokwe to boxing at a young age, Makala was left distraught by her death, shortly after she challenged the Boxing SA ratings committee for omitting her because she lost her last bout, though her opponent, Nomfundo Xaba, came in overweight.
But Meko’s achievement reminded the trainer why he had dedicated his life to shaping the future of youngsters in the region.
“I do not want to draw comparisons, but Skorobho’s win is a fulfilment of my objectives to keep involved in boxing. To say I am happy would be an understatement,” Makala said.
Meko has now set his sights on bringing an Olympic gold medal home to SA for the first time ever.
“I can tell everyone that I will win gold from the Olympics and that is my goal right now.”
However, the SA National Boxing Organisation (Sanabo) is yet to join World Boxing, which is the only international federation with a provisional right to oversee the sport at the 2028 Los Angels Olympics.
Sanabo said it was working towards a strategic plan to leverage its dual membership status to join World Boxing.
Daily Dispatch
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.