THE on again, off again boxing tournament of Ethembeni Promotions is tentatively on - thanks to SuperSport's change of heart.

The eight-bout card, which was initially pencilled in for October 26, should now take place at Nasrec Arena on November 23, promoter Mxolisi Gumede announced.

Gumede also added that SuperSport would televise it live from 2pm.

Gumede claimed he'd had to cancel it at first after the pay station had refused to broadcast it because he had "not been able to do as dictated to by SuperSport".

The promoter said he had been told to include four white fighters - Warren Joubert, Shawn Ness, Stone van Aswegen and Jarred Silverman.

"I tried to sign up those guys but I could not get them," he said.

"I then went back to SuperSport and informed them about the unavailability of those fighters. I was told to improve on my tournament. I did just that and went back to them but sadly I was told that I could go ahead with it, but they would not broadcast it," he said. "But that is water under the bridge now."

SuperSport communications manager Clinton van der Berg vehemently disputed Gumede's version of events.

"This had nothing to do with race. He is misrepresenting the truth," said Van der Berg, who then copied Sowetan in an e-mail subsequently sent to Gumede.

"This is an outright lie," said Van der Berg in the e-mail. "You were, in fact, the person who complained about the difficulty of signing white fighters, something which never unduly troubled SuperSport. Our only suggestion, after the initial tournament was called off, was that you stick to what you promise with regards to match-ups. Whether they include black or white fighters is immaterial."

Gumede's bill will be headlined by the national junior- lightweight championship between holder Jasper Seroka and Koos Sibiya.