Sixty boxers will fight 30 bouts in an amateur boxing tournament at the Port Alfred Civic Centre on Women’s Day, August 9, 2025. Five of those bouts will be between girls. The tournament is organised by Mpucuko Sports Development to cater for a growing number of young boxers in the Ndlambe municipal area.
“We started organising these tournaments in 2020,” said founder, coach and former SA flyweight champion Ncedo Cecane. Cecane explained that even the most talented and well trained boxers struggled to make the leap from being local, district or even provincial champions, to the national stage.
“So we organise tournaments across the country to close that gap,” the southpaw originally from Whittlesea told Talk of the Town.
Keeping the fight momentum going, and preparing fighters who might be in line for the 2028 Olympics are among the goals of the Mpucuko initiative.
The tournament for Ndlambe fighters next month will be sponsored by the provincial liquor board, BET Exchange and the Club Clothing brand.
Cecane says Mpucuko recognises the need for children’s holistic growth.
“We make participants pledge commitment to their schoolwork,” he said. “After every tournament we hold a life skills session where we emphasise that they must commit to their academics before we accept them in the programme.”
Cecane said they would like members of the public from Port Alfred and the Sarah Baartman District to attend the tournament.
”But most of all, we want the children’s parents there. We want them to know what their children are getting up to when they’re not at home or not at school.”
The tournament takes place in the Port Alfred Civic Centre, starting at 10am with the last round expected to end by 5pm.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, July 24, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
