Has the newly appointed sanctioning committee started on the wrong footing in executing its duties by disregarding a particular Boxing SA regulation which deals specifically with the eligibility of a fighter, especially a challenger, for a title?
"No," says Boxing SA ratings committee chairman Irvin Buhlalu, whose four-member team was appointed early in March by BSA accounting authority Mandla Ntlanganiso.
There had been no such committee since December 12 after the term of the previous committee had expired.
That was because there was also no board of Boxing SA, which is empowered by the Boxing Act to appoint sub-committees like the ratings and sanctioning committees.
Some tournaments were postponed but some went ahead and they were allowed to go ahead by then acting CEO of Boxing Ntlanganiso, who was later appointed by sports minister Zizi Kodwa to take full responsibility of boxing.
On the championship approvals, Regulation 3. (1) says: "The challenger must have either won or drawn his/her last fight to be eligible."
Chumani Thunzi was approved to challenge Luvuyo Mphuthi for the Eastern Cape junior welterweight title, a match Thunzi won by a stoppage in the sixth round.
Thunzi had last fought in July 2022 when he was knocked out badly by Marcus Lebogo in Soweto.
Said Buhlalu: "We did not sanction that tournament; maybe it was sanctioned before we were appointed by accounting authority Mr Ntlanganiso early in March.
"There are tournaments that did not reach us for sanctioning. The ones that we sanctioned have not taken place. I signed sanctioning letters last week – only three applications have come to us as interim sanctioning committee and two clearance letters of boxers to fight outside SA."
Approached for comment, Ntlanganiso sent a statement which reads: "Please note that Luvuyo Mputhi won the vacant Eastern Cape Junior Welterweight Title on 28 August 2022, and he has never defended it for over a year.
"This is not an ideal situation and you are aware that in some provinces there is low activity and some divisions are not as active as we would have envisaged.
"This can also be attributed to the scarcity of opponents in the division, leaving Mputhi and Tunzi as the only available boxers to compete for the provincial title.
"Therefore, in our efforts to revive provincial titles and ratings, it is imperative to allow some fights to continue as long as there are no other contenders or challengers on a specific division.
"We are of the opinion that to achieve our goal of establishing a fully recognised provincial rankings, action must begin at some point. The sanctioning of this bout proved us correct as it has all the features to be the contender of the fight of the year."
'We didn't sanction Thunzi vs Mphuthi bout'
Is the sanctioning committee breaking Boxing SA's rules?
Image: Luyanda Sovasi
Has the newly appointed sanctioning committee started on the wrong footing in executing its duties by disregarding a particular Boxing SA regulation which deals specifically with the eligibility of a fighter, especially a challenger, for a title?
"No," says Boxing SA ratings committee chairman Irvin Buhlalu, whose four-member team was appointed early in March by BSA accounting authority Mandla Ntlanganiso.
There had been no such committee since December 12 after the term of the previous committee had expired.
That was because there was also no board of Boxing SA, which is empowered by the Boxing Act to appoint sub-committees like the ratings and sanctioning committees.
Some tournaments were postponed but some went ahead and they were allowed to go ahead by then acting CEO of Boxing Ntlanganiso, who was later appointed by sports minister Zizi Kodwa to take full responsibility of boxing.
On the championship approvals, Regulation 3. (1) says: "The challenger must have either won or drawn his/her last fight to be eligible."
Chumani Thunzi was approved to challenge Luvuyo Mphuthi for the Eastern Cape junior welterweight title, a match Thunzi won by a stoppage in the sixth round.
Thunzi had last fought in July 2022 when he was knocked out badly by Marcus Lebogo in Soweto.
Said Buhlalu: "We did not sanction that tournament; maybe it was sanctioned before we were appointed by accounting authority Mr Ntlanganiso early in March.
"There are tournaments that did not reach us for sanctioning. The ones that we sanctioned have not taken place. I signed sanctioning letters last week – only three applications have come to us as interim sanctioning committee and two clearance letters of boxers to fight outside SA."
Approached for comment, Ntlanganiso sent a statement which reads: "Please note that Luvuyo Mputhi won the vacant Eastern Cape Junior Welterweight Title on 28 August 2022, and he has never defended it for over a year.
"This is not an ideal situation and you are aware that in some provinces there is low activity and some divisions are not as active as we would have envisaged.
"This can also be attributed to the scarcity of opponents in the division, leaving Mputhi and Tunzi as the only available boxers to compete for the provincial title.
"Therefore, in our efforts to revive provincial titles and ratings, it is imperative to allow some fights to continue as long as there are no other contenders or challengers on a specific division.
"We are of the opinion that to achieve our goal of establishing a fully recognised provincial rankings, action must begin at some point. The sanctioning of this bout proved us correct as it has all the features to be the contender of the fight of the year."
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