Patience is virtue and Allen Matakane can attest to this axiom.

The lanky traffic officer from East London is a late bloomer whose mannerism and conduct as a boxing ring official has caught the attention of the IBO (International Boxing Organisation) sanctioning body.

The president of the Florida‚ US-based IBO‚ Edward Levine‚ told TimesLIVE this week that Boxing SA’s 2018 male ring official of the year winner has been appointed as one of the three judges for the upcoming IBO cruiserweight championship fight between Kevin Lerena and Sefer Seferi.

Lerena will make the fifth defence of his title against the No 31 contender from Switzerland on September 21 at Emperors Palace.

The other two judges will be Olena Pobyvailo from Belgium and Frank-Michael Maas from Germany.

Levine said Jean Robert Laine from Monaco will be the referee while Andre van Grootenbruel from Belgium will be fight supervisor.

Matakane’s appointment comes a week after he was one of the three judges for the IBO Africa super middleweight title fight that was also staged by Golden Gloves in Kempton Park.

Lerena’s stablemate‚ Rowan “Braveheart” Campbell‚ upset the bookies in that fight when he demolished hot favourite Patrick Mukala from Congo in seven rounds to retain his IBO Africa super middleweight strap.

The other two judges were Pumeza Zinakile and Sazi Xamlashe‚ both from Johannesburg‚ while Sylvia Mokaila from the North West province was fight supervisor. That was the first time that a female (Mokaila) was appointed for such a senior position.

Associate promoters Rodney Berman and Jeff Ellis negotiated with Levine for that appointment which coincided with the celebrations of women’s month.

Matakane is definitely one of the best ring officials in the land. He never attempts to steal from boxers as a referee during a fight.

He is invisible but suddenly emerges when he has to make that quick decision. That is how referees must conduct themselves.

He maintains a very good angle and distance. It comes as a no shock to see Matakane featuring prominently in high-profile fights around the country.