Pro-Boxing in sponsorship headache
Calistus Kolantsho | Tuesday November 3, 2026 09:51
Renowned local boxing promoter, Thuso ‘Scud’ Khubamang told Sport Monitor that boxing has the potential to excel at regional and international level, just like athletics. However, he said the sport continues to suffer from a lack of support hampering its progress. “Athletics is doing well because they have support from the government and the private sector. The absence of television coverage for professional boxing events is also a challenge,” Khubamang said. He noted professional boxing relies heavily on television, arguing that live broadcasts attract sponsors while television rights provide an avenue for remunerating boxers. “We are in a tight corner due to the absence of television from boxing.
It was the first time for us to postpone an event, and also the first time we faced sponsorship challenges,” he said. Khubamang added that local promoters were largely staging events to keep the sport alive rather than for commercial gain. “As local promoters, we are just hosting events for the sake of boxing, not for profit-making. “When things were tough, the Ministry of Sport and Arts (MOSA) came on board, which made a huge difference,” he said. However, Khubamang noted that the repeated postponements had also worked in the boxers' favour, giving them more time to train and prepare for their bouts. Despite the setbacks, he said the event eventually went according to plan. During the competition, Kutlwano ‘Chino’ Ogaketse, 28, was crowned the new IBO All Africa Junior Welterweight champion after overpowering South African Aphiwe Mboyiya.
'The title is now open for challenge, but it will depend on Ogaketse whether he accepts a challenge or not. He has grown as a boxer and is a hard worker,' Khubamang added. Ogaketse's manager, Thebe Setlalekgosi, said his boxer deserved the title after a lengthy period of preparation. 'Finally, he is the champion, and I am proud of him. Boxers train daily or almost daily. They are always in the gym, fight or no fight. For this bout, however, we started training around January. It has been a clean 10 months,' he explained. Setlalekgosi said they were also affected by the four postponements, but were relieved that the fight eventually took place and were already prepared to defend the title. Meanwhile, Tshiamo Malabola was crowned national champion after defeating Brian Rennei.
In other bouts, Mmusi Tswiige and Kagiso Bagwasi settled for a draw in the junior middleweight contest, while Boifang Kenaope claimed a technical knockout victory over Tshepang ‘Gearbox’ Babui in the lightweight division. Kgosi Mosimakoko also emerged victorious against Emmanuel Mariti, while in the night's only women's bout, Dorcus Thabologo secured a split-decision victory over Zimbabwe's Caitlin Chipoperwa.