The second quarter of 2026 will be remembered as one of the proudest in the modern history of South African boxing, says Boxing SA ratings committee chairman Xolile Dike.<\/p>\n
\u201cA new generation of unbeaten prospects forced its way into the national ratings, and women\u2019s boxing delivered its busiest and most promising quarter yet,\u201d Dike said after releasing what he termed the \u201cQuarter Two report\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouth African boxing is punching above its weight. Siyakhola \u2018One Way\u2019 Kuse, Bernice \u2018The Badger\u2019 Ferreira and Ricardo \u2018The Magic Man\u2019 Malajika won WBC world titles.<\/p>\n
Kuse won the mini flyweight title in May at Emperors Palace; IBO junior-lightweight holder Ferreira captured the WBC crown in Atlanta in August; and Malajika, who holds the IBO junior-bantamweight belt, added the WBC crown in Japan last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe domestic title scene delivered drama and history.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u2014 \u00a0Boxing SA ratings committee chairman Xolile Dike.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe domestic title scene delivered drama and history, with Siyabulela Hem becoming the first to win the national [lightweight] title after Boxing SA allowed him to leap three weight divisions,\u201d said Dike.<\/p>\n
Hem, who holds the SA junior-featherweight belt, ended Khaya Busakwe\u2019s reign as lightweight champion.<\/p>\n
In that same tournament, staged by promoter Ayanda Matiti\u2019s Xaba Promotions, Katlego Khanyisa dethroned Asanda Gingqi as the national junior-lightweight champ.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the quarter, a wave of young, unbeaten professionals fought their way into the national rankings, several of them in only their third, fourth or fifth contest,\u201d said Dike.<\/p>\n
Some of the boxers he mentioned include Indiphile Ntshangase, Sabelo Ndwandwe, Amila Gongqa, Philani Mfaku, Tumelo Mphahlele and Ethan Peters <\/p>\n
\u201cThe ratings are becoming more interesting and more competitive than they have been in years,\u201d said Dike. <\/p>\n
\u201cMore licensees are pushing for their boxers to be recognised, which is a sign of a healthy sport and keeps the committee focused on fairness and transparency in every decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
To keep the divisions moving, he said the ratings committee will continue to enforce mandatory challenges so top-ranked boxers step up to fight for titles. <\/p>\n
Dike said the ratings policy on inactivity also remains firmly in place. <\/p>\n
\u201cBoxers who go twelve months without a fight come out of the ratings, which rewards those who stay active,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dike thanked the BSA board for its continued support, the BSA office for its dedication, and the matchmakers and promoters whose commitment makes fights happen and boxers shine. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe board of BSA and the administration have set the stage, and our boxers are delivering on it,\u201d Dike said, adding that local boxing is on the rise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best is still to come. We call on promoters, sponsors, broadcasters and fans to get behind our champions and the next generation of fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second quarter of 2026 will be remembered as one of the proudest in the modern history of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":933684,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,500643,500644,500642,85,244375],"class_list":["post-933683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-prospects-south-africa","tag-boxing-rankings-south-africa","tag-boxing-sa-board","tag-sports","tag-xaba-promotions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=933683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/933683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/933684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=933683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=933683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=933683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}