'Women not promoting enough female boxers'

Reigning Boxing SA manager of the year award winner Colleen McAusland wants what happens in August, which is celebrated in SA as Women's Month, to lead to ongoing co-operation between women in boxing.

Boxing SA announced last week that licensees, women to be precise, will have a boxing breakfast with deputy minister of sports Nocawe Noncedo Mafu on Saturday August 27, which will be the last day of the gathering at the ICC Hall in Durban that will begin on August 22.

“I hope it will not be another talk show as it has been the norm every year during August,” she said on Monday. “Hopefully it is not another tea and cake party. Otherwise it will be a waste of my day and that of Smangele Hadebe by going there.”

Hadebe – the SA and ABU flyweight champion – is one of the many fighters whose careers are guided by McAusland, who was the first woman to win the manager of the year award in 2018.

“It frustrates me when people sing the same song and dance about how bad men treat women and that we must unite against femicide yet nothing gets done and actually everything dies a natural death after August," McAusland said.

“The truth is that it starts with us as women. We constantly judge each other, we constantly criticise other women. When a woman walks into a room full of other women already she has been judged by what she is wearing, her hair, shoes etc. yet they are the first ones to cry about not being treated fairly.

“We’ve got to start with ourselves if we want to be treated differently.

“The same happens in boxing; women are breaking others down. We can do so much if we unite and speak in one voice.

“They are scared to share a piece of their pie by uniting. At the end of the day it is boxers who are not benefiting from women in business. There’s been more women promoters coming up since 2007 but they are not promoting females like you would have thought.”

McAusland said at the end of the day it is the same women who sing about the lack of gender equality who are abusing and breaking down other women. “I see that often; I deal with abused women,” she said.

“So, ja, to answer your question, I hope we have a clear vision from the committee of the Women in Boxing as we will be going to Durban – less talking and more action.”

To paint a picture of how complicated women's boxing is in SA, the contest between Matshidiso Mokebisi, a veteran of 26 fights, and four-fight novice Monalisa Takane has been sanctioned purely because of the scarcity of fights among female fighters.

They will oppose each other for the vacant SA junior-featherweight title at Feather Market Theatre in Gqeberha where J4Joy Development and Entertainment company will introduce itself to the Eastern Cape fight fraternity.