Several boxers in Pietermaritzburg and other parts of KwaZulu-Natal will be in action on October 31 at Eshowe Town Hall.
Local female promoter and former boxer Nomvelo MaGcaba-Shezi of Mvelo Boxing Promotion (MBP), in conjunction with Cebiso Xulu of Tap Tap Makhathini Sports, will be staging the tournament to honour former South African middleweight champion Elijah “Tap Tap” Makhathini.
MaGcaba-Shezi on Thursday confirmed that she is one of the promoters, together with Xulu, for the forthcoming event. “Yes we are putting the tournament together, but I am not alone because I joined hands with Tap Tap Makhathini Sports which is under Xulu.
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“So I will be bringing boxers [male and female] from Pietermaritzburg, KwaXimba and Cato Ridge. Xulu will also bring his boxers from different parts of the province and we are expecting a good tournament,” said MaGcaba-Shezi.
She added that the aim of the event is to honour SA boxing legend Elijah “Tap Tap” Makhathini and also promote to unknown and up-and-coming boxers that are always eagerly waiting to be given a chance to step into the ring.
“The event will be about saluting our legend uBaba Makhathini and also promote those young boxers that are always starved for a chance to fight,” MaGcaba-Shezi said.
You will also remember that Tap Tap Makhathini Sports is currently playing a major role in the development boxing series and this is one of the parts of those series.
Xulu emphasised that the event is also about unearthing new boxing talent.
The main bout of the event will be for the SA Female Super Middleweight belt between Wendy Gcadu and Nobhekazi Booth, who will go at each other in 10 rounds of action
The other top clash will be the 10-round bout for the vacant KZN flyweight title between Mnelisi “Man ‘O Man” Ndlovu from Pietermaritzburg and Sechaba “Simply the Best” Zuma from Umlazi.
For many years the Stanger-born Makhathini reigned supreme as the black South African middleweight champion but never gained the recognition he deserved because of segregation laws that prevented black and white boxers from fighting against each other at the time.
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Makhathini became SA’s first undisputed national champion after knocking out the country’s middleweight champion, Jan Kies, in three rounds at the Rand Stadium, Johannesburg, in 1976.