The cream of the crop of young boxing talent in the Sarah Baartman district slugged it out in a Mpucuko Sports Development regional boxing tournament at Port Alfred’s Civic Centre on Saturday.
More than 50 boxers – boys and girls – from cadets to juniors fought it out with an eye on possible selection to compete in the nationals in East London next March.
The eager youngsters from Save the Children Boxing club (Kenton), MaliBoxing (Bathurst), Masibambisane BC (Port Alfred), Mfuzo BC (Makhanda), Masimbabane BC (Makhanda) and Golden Gloves BC (Makhanda) and Thembalethu BC arrived early for a jam-packed fight schedule that went on in to the early evening. The tournament was sponsored by Eastern Cape Liquor Board.
Trainers prepared boxers for the various fights – about 40 in total – motivating them with war cries and shadow boxing as various sets of fans joined in to add to the vibe at the venue.
Then the timekeeper called “seconds” out for one of the first fights between Sinothando Mapapu and Mfuzu’s Linathi Biko. The girls put in some blistering action, pulling no punches from the initial bell up to the final round. In the end, it was Biko who lost the fight after Mapupu’s relentless power got to her opponent.
Then Mafuzo’s Khazimla Madyo turned on the heat with a battery of quick punches in his fight against Ricardo Benjamin of MaliBoxing to win on points, before a match-up between Ntando Planga of Golden Gloves and Uyathandwa Lombo of Mfuzo ended in victory for Planga – also on points.
A fight between Angam Makebengu of Thembalethu BC and Libone Mbezu of MaliBoxing BC, ended in tears for the latter who came in to the ring with much fanfare, but fell to the furious body assault of Makebengu.
A feature of the day’s fighting was the trophies handed out to each winner and a medal to the losers. All winning boxers go forward to the provincial tournament as a Sarah Baartman district team where they will clash against counterparts from OR Tambo, Nelson Mandela Bay, and Buffalo City, among them. This tournament will see an eight-member Mpucuko team chosen to represent it at the national tournament at East London’s Orient Theatre in March 2026.
East London’s Mpucuko Sports Development is the brainchild of former SA flyweight champion, Ncedo Cecane, who through his initiative, is making it possible for amateur boxers to compete against each other.
Cecane has come up with a “Vision 2028” plan with the focus firmly set on getting at least one boxer from these series of tournaments which he is organising all over the province for the past three years, to gain selection to the Los Angeles Summer Olympics in 2028.
‘”We are nurturing raw talent …but we are focusing on the holistic growth of the child. He or she must go to school … and we emphasise that children must finish Grade 12. We must have the signature of the school to allow them to participate,” said Cecane.
“We will be choosing eight boxers – four boys and four girls (for national champs at Orient Theatre. After that it’s full steam ahead to prepare for 2028. It’s been a long time since boxing has been represented there.”
Cecane says the reason why young boxing talent fell by the wayside once they had reached age 18-19, was due to a lack of follow-up process.
“When we have nurtured talent … there are times we lose track of them along the way after matric … where are they, at university? Another club? We have to know where they are.”
Fans and young boxers were no doubt taken up by the presence of boxing idols former world champions, Welcome “the Hawk Ncita, Vuyani “The Beast” Bungu and Nkosinathi “Mabere” Joyi at the tournament.
Ncita who paved the way for SA boxers in the IBF division after becoming the first SA boxer to win the IBF Super Bantamweight title in 1990, defending it six times before losing it to Kennedy McKinney in 1992, said despite the talent on display, the young boxers needed more time in the ring.
“There is lots of talent and the boxing is very good but the organisers must ensure they give these boxers more action in the ring. There must be frequent tournaments; not one tournament every three months. They need the assistance of the municipality and all boxing people to come up with a plan as to how we will revive boxing.
“I am willing to assist anytime; I am just a phone call away if they need help,” said Ncita.
Joyi, the former IBF world and IBO Minimum Weight Champion, who reigned supreme in his division in the early 2000s, said it was good to see Mpucuko trying to uplift the standard of boxing.
“There are some things that are not going right in boxing but interventions like these uplift the standards … so it is good to see.”
“The parents are important to these young boxers … they have to make sure they do get involved in sport. And to ensure they are doing the right thing; like going to school,” he added.
Noncedo Mkokeli-Ntloko who manages Vukani Boxing Club in Makhanda said there was an ongoing battle to get women in to boxing.
“They are scared despite the fact we are making them understand that there are defensive strategies that we teach and that boxing is not a violent sport. We need to convince the parents that it’s okay for them to box.
“Boxing is on a growth path in Makhanda but we need funds to host tournaments for transport and to feed the boxers as we are doing this from our own pockets,” she added.
-
This article was first published in Talk of the Town, August 14, 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.
