Ngubane will be up against Mallick in grudge fight

Judging the current state of affairs in South African rankings, especially in the middleweight female division, the impression is that the second meeting in Durban on Saturday between national champion Mapule Ngubane and Rushda Mallick will not be their last.

That is because Mallick from the Western Cape is the only rated boxer in that division. Ngubane from Pietermaritzburg defeated Mallick in March last year for the very title, which was then vacant.

The Johannesburg-based champion was under the guidance of trainer Samson Ndlovu at that time. She has since left him and will actually make her debut under Bushy Mabele of the Jersey Joe gym in Alexandra.

That gym is home to reigning national middleweight champion John “Section 29” Bopape.

The scarcity of female fighters is a serious problem for boxers. Some champions like Nozwelethu Mathonsi last defended her junior flyweight strap in 2017, in what was her first defence since being crowned in 2015. 

Ngubane has been around since 2010, and she has previously held the same middleweight belt. She forfeited it after she misunderstood the gesture from the Gauteng Boxing Promoters Association (GBPA), which assisted many fighters with their medical check-up prior to the renewal of their boxers’ licences in 2022. GBPA actually assisted them by paying for their medical check-up.

Her grudge match against Mallick, who has boxed professionally since 2014, will be staged jointly by female promoters Hlengiwe Dladla, Nomfundo Malinga, Nomvelo Magcaba and Zandile Malinga. 

That will be the first all-women only tournament, which is part of SA’s 67th commemoration of the march by more than 20,000 women to the Union Buildings on August 9, 1956 in protest against the extension of pass laws to women.

Both the national and provincial governments have put aside money through Boxing SA (BSA) for women empowerment in boxing. Each province will have a women-only tournament. BSA paired Dladla, Malinga, Magcaba and Zandile for the KwaZulu-Natal tournament.

Joyce Kungwane’s TLB Promotions and Janie Hebler of 5th Element will stage theirs at Vodaworld in Midrand on August 26, with other promoters following from September 1 until March next year, according to BSA acting CEO Ntsikayezwe Sithole.

Ngubane warned that she will fight until the bitter end to protect her meal ticket. She is unemployed and boxing is her only income.

“Mallick must go to Pietermaritzburg fully prepared for war; we plan to put her under pressure from the word go; she loses focus during the fight and she can also be rough but I am ready for her tricks,” she said.

“I had good sparring from a number of my gym mates both amateurs and professionals; I also had good pad work from Bopape, who also gave me a few sparring sessions.”

Ngubane has chalked up 10 wins, eight losses and three draws while Mallick has fought only 36 rounds in her six fights with three wins, two losses and a draw. Their 10 rounder on Saturday will take place at the Olive Convention Centre.