Ngatane defends 'meaningless' ABU SADC belt

Peter Ngatane has protected the integrity of the African Boxing Union (ABU) SADC, which has been labelled as one of those alphabetic soup organisations that have turned SA into a dumping ground for dubious belts.

Ngatane is ABU SADC president. Some sections of the boxing fraternity have gone on to say the ABU SADC belt is meaningless and does not advance boxers' careers.

During his tenure as chairman of Boxing SA, Ngatane came out strongly against insignificant boxing titles being thrown at South Africa.

Though conflicted since he represents the WBC, Ngatane was responding to a question about the dubious conduct of the WBA and WBF, which sanction boxers who do not even qualify for provincial titles.

“We had a meeting as the BSA board and it was decided that even though these sanctioning bodies can sanction a bout, we still have a say because of our jurisdiction. We are in the process of grading them because some do not deserve to be staging their fights here. It is all about money [sanctioning fees],” he said. 

Sadly, Ngatane, together with his colleagues at BSA, allowed the unknown Legends Boxing Foundation to have its title contested at Orient Theatre in 2019. No such title fight has taken place here again. Its champion Sabelo Ngebinyane never got to defend it.

The spotlight now falls on the ABU SADC. Some boxers who won their belts lost them without even a single defence.

Sowetan asked Ngatane about its effectiveness as a boxing body. “It is effective,” he said. “The main problem is that some promoters are happy to stage ABU SADC title fights but don't push champions to defend them.”

He said its champions are given six months from the date they are crowned to prepare for their title defences.

Last weekend, three ABU SADC champions were crowned in Durban. They are Phikelelani Khumalo (middleweight), Ntethelelo Magcaba (junior-bantamweight) and Mnelisi Ndlovu (bantamweight).

Their victories made them eligible to fight for the actual ABU or WBC Africa titles, according to Ngatane.

Asked about ABU SADC ratings which should inform the sanctioning of its fights, he said: “They fall within ABU rankings. The ABU is a federation within the WBC.”

Consistency in successfully defending an ABU belt ultimately earns that champion a crack at the WBC belt.

Boxers like Thulani Malinga and Thabiso Mchunu held ABU belts and eventually fought for WBC crowns. Malinga won the WBC super middleweight belt from Nigel Benn in England on March 2 1996.

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