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Berman gets recognition - at last

THE first volley in a campaign to have Joburg promoter Rodney Berman admitted to boxing's Hall of Fame has been fired by South African boxing great Brian Mitchell, who was inducted in 2009.

Berman, who has promoted bouts since 1976, employs Mitchell as a publicist.

"Rodney is without doubt South Africa's biggest and best promoter of all time," said Mitchell, South Africa's best fighter of all time who won the WBA super featherweight title in 1986 and defended it a record 11 times, never losing a title fight.

In 1991 Mitchell also captured the IBF super featherweight title, retiring after the fight but coming back briefly in 1994 for two local bouts, retiring completely in 1995 with a professional record of 45-1-3.

Mitchell, now 51, made the claim for Berman on the promoter's 70th birthday yesterday. "This is the man who promoted my first professional fight in 1981," said Mitchell.

Berman and Cedric Kushner partnered with Don Chargin in a WBA-IBF junior lightweight unification bout between Mitchell and Tony Lopez in Sacramento in 1991.

Mitchell ended Lopez's reign as IBF holder, and became the first dual world champion from South Africa.

Mitchell said Berman had organised more than 2000 bouts, of which 300 were world title fights.

"I may be 70 years old now but I still have brains of a 39-year-old ambitious boxing promoter," Berman said.

He said he still wanted to put together big fights around the world.

Berman has received State recognition for his contribution to boxing in South Africa and was also honoured by the IBF. He managed Charlie Weir while Welcome Ncita was his first world champion.

Berman produced South Africa's first WBC champion in Thulani Malinga.

Among the biggest tournaments he staged were between Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman in 2001, the WBC super middleweight bout between Dingaan Thobela and Glen Catley in 2000 - and the female world championship between Laila Ali and Gwendolyn O'Neill in 2007.

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