Calls intensify for BSA to get medical aid and insurance for fighters

Nkululeko “Bull Dog” Mhlongo's health condition is associated with injuries that are part of boxing but the fact that he does not have medical aid to seek better treatment is what traumatises Sipho Mashego.

The celebrated ring announcer and BSA Gauteng provincial manager Lehlohonolo Ramagole, visited Mhlongo at home in Thokoza, East Randon Sunday.

The former SA junior middleweight and middleweight champion has monocular vision which means he is unable to see with one eye and unable to walk properly.

Sowetan learnt about Mhlongo's medical challenges after a routine check on fighters. He said his body became numb from toes to head, the night he lost the middleweight belt to John Bopape in Bloemfontein in April 29, 2023.

“My right-hand side is numb from head to toe and I can't feel anything and I am unable to walk. My right eye is also blind. It all began the night I lost the fight to John Bopape. I struggled to sleep and I was feeling very cold” he said.

Mhlongo, 40, is a stylish crowd pleaser who thrilled fans during his prime, especially by hiding his right hand behind his back and fight with only his left after establishing a points lead.

“Boxing is a brutal sport and it's a fact, it is vicious and anything can happen inside the ring but sadly boxers don't have insurance or medical aid which should be a must considering the brutality of our sport,” said Mashego who reiterated the call for boxing authorities to work around the clock in getting insurance cover and medical aid for boxers.

There has never been such a cover since the beginning of time. Boxing is indisputably violent. Though relatively few boxers suffer fatal injuries while in the ring, research reveals that 60-90% of boxers who have had many fights fall victim to chronic brain damage.

Ramagole said he will file his report to the acting director of operations Mncedisi Ngqumba.

There is no other sport in which chronic brain damage is prevalent among its athletes, but boxing still does not provide its athletes with health benefits or compensation for career-ending injuries.

BSA acting CEO Mandla Ntlanganiso told Sowetan in June that: “There is no conclusive plan at the moment but we are engaging, for an example there were two companies that came to make presentations. What is needed is just for us to push this but we need to have a serious engagement with stakeholders.

“Also remember, the income of boxers does not happen every month, so we need a company that will cover them on an annual basis.” 

Head injuries are the most common type of harm suffered by boxers. This fact should not be surprising because a boxer's main mission during a fight is to score a knockout or, in other words, to short-circuit his opponent's brain.

Mhlongo is now being taken care of by his mother. “Tears run down his face when he talks about how lonely he feels now that he can no longer fight and that he has no money,” said Mashego.

“It is an indictment on the sport of boxing that when a boxer hits all-time low, no-one bothers to check on them,” said the Boxing SA 2023 ring announcer of the year.

“When a boxer is top of their game, every body loves them, but when things turn out for the worst, they are on their own.”

Resisting the temptation of naming and shaming individuals for what he termed unethical behaviour towards ex-fighters during the time they need assistance from their former trainers, managers and promoters, Mashego said:

“They are nowhere near them because they can no longer use them. Looking at Nkululeko speak, you feel the pain of being forgotten. Something has to give; we can't continue like this.”

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