A tug-of-war has flared up between two provincial boxing heavyweights over the November 2 date which they are both eyeing to stage tournaments.
Boxing SA-EC manager Siya Vabaza-Booi and KayB Promotions are not backing down in what is expected to escalate to the intervention of the national office after Vabaza-Booi wrote a strongly-worded letter to KayB boss Mzi Booi (no relations), reminding him of her authority to endorse tournament applications in the province.
This was after Booi had bypassed Vabaza-Booi and sent the application for his tournament to the BSA head office.
The two had been at loggerheads over a series of administrative issues, among them the SA junior-welterweight title saga involving East London’s Aphiwe Mboyiya’s shot.
Booi complained to BSA CEO Tsholofelo Lejaka about Vabaza-Booi’s conduct in his May tournament that was scheduled to feature Mboyiya’s clash against Sipho Mahlangu for the vacant belt.
The fight was withdrawn at the eleventh hour when the BSA sanctioning committee refused to approve it after second second-ranked Sibusiso Zingange wanted to enforce his position to face Mboyiya.
The relations took a more strained turn after the pair again clashed before Booi’s development show at the Guild Theatre in August, prompting him to vow never to deal with the provincial manager again.
Booi, who immediately announced his next tournament for November 2 at the same venue, said he had honoured the procedure guiding a date application, including the compulsory percentage fee to secure the date.
“I really do not want to go into details about this, but I can confirm that I indeed submitted a complaint about the provincial manager’s conduct,” he said.
Vabaza-Booi said the November 2 date was scheduled for the provincial Women In Boxing series, whose promoter is yet to be decided.
In an acerbic letter to Booi, she wrote: “I would like to put things into clear perspective. I am the provincial manager of Eastern Cape, the only official entrusted with authority to allocate and confirm fight dates in this province.
“It is therefore highly unacceptable and deeply concerning to learn that a tournament has been scheduled on a date that was never approved or confirmed by my office.
“The 2nd of November 2025 is already allocated to the Women In Boxing event, and any attempt to process another tournament on that date completely undermines the structure and governance of BSA and such conduct cannot and will not be tolerated.”
Vabaza-Booi said she would not back down to any promoter who did not want to follow the correct procedure by undermining her authority.
“There is a reason BSA appointed me to handle boxing administration in the province and until they tell me otherwise, I will continue to uphold the rules and regulations guiding the date application of tournaments.”
Booi declined to comment on the matter besides insisting his application had been submitted long before the Women In Boxing series tender was even finalised.
Daily Dispatch
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