Malinga takes boxing to far corners of KZN
Promoter thinks stick-fighting skills in rural areas can be applied to boxing
Durban-based promoter Zandile Malinga continues this weekend with her mission to take the sport of boxing to remote areas where young males (amabhungu) historically grew up practising stick fighting to establish who is the strongest.
She says their impressive skills can be converted to boxing if they are exposed to the fistic sport. Her tournament will take place on Sunday at Cecil Emmett Hall in Vryheid – a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal – which has never witnessed such and event.
Vryheid is home to Danny Myburgh – one of the most courageous boxers to step into the ring – who achieved so much in the amateur ranks.
He won three South African junior-welterweight championships in 1984, 1985, and 1986, and was awarded Springbok colours, but he had to relocate to Pretoria for his career to prosper.
After his first round stoppage win over Coleman Molefe for the vacant Transvaal junior-welterweight title, Myburgh won the South African lightweight title after defeating Aladin Stevens in 1992. But Myburgh did not fight at home in northern Natal because boxing was never taken seriously there.
It is because of such unfortunate mishaps that Malinga embarked on a mission to take this sport to all corners of the country.
She’s already been to Dundee, another coal mining town, where a boxer she helped with exposure, Gcina Makhoba, today holds the WBF International junior-bantamweight title.
Malinga’s tournament on Sunday will be headlined by a rematch between female SA junior-bantamweight champion Thema Zuma and Bathabile Ziqubu. Zuma defeated Ziqubu for then then vacant title in Malinga’s tournament at Greyville Convention Centre in Durban in June last year.
“They both wanted to do it all over again,” said Malinga yesterday. “Bathabile was not happy about how she lost in June. Thema said bring it on and she promised to repeat what she did. Mine is to set the stage for them.”
The main supporting bout is a battle for the provincial supremacy in the featherweight division between Nhlonipho Hlubi and Mpendulo Gumede.
There will be four more bouts and Malinga said live action from SABC 2 will begin at 2pm.