Absence Of Star Names Dims Boxing Tourney
Naledi Lemogang | Monday September 11, 2017 15:18
BOBA competition manager, Gibson Rauwe said despite the good turnout he was worried about the absence of top boxers.
“The quality of boxing today was a bit low because some of our tough and national team boxers failed to attend the tournament, the likes of Steven Bagwasi, Mmusi Tswiige, Zibane Chikanda, Kabo Seitshiro, Kagiso Bagwasi and others. We were expecting competition to get tougher and tougher as we are approaching the BOBA national championships at the end of the year,” Rauwe said. He said their opponents lack challenge since they get paired with less experienced boxers, which compromises boxing standards.
“Tactically, our boxers are not at the same level. It is a bit scattered because some are better while others are still struggling to get where we want them to be. However, overall the tournament was great compared to the last tournament held at Ditshupo,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gillian Ditshwene of Prisons Boxing Club who has been struggling to record wins throughout this year’s tournaments, recorded his second victory over the weekend fighting against Olefile Chapo of DTCB in the Under-56kg category. During the first round, Ditshwene who usually starts his fight at higher tempo, was a bit relaxed and more into defending while his opponents released several powerful punches, but did not score points. The bout became more interesting in the second round where both boxers attacked each other frequently. However, Ditshwene had an upper hand because his punches reached the scoring areas.
Ditshwene said he was happy now that he was able to fight according to his coach’s instructions and managed to record his second win of the year. “The fight was difficult because my opponent had more stamina. However, the good part is that both of us punch and follow. I ended up releasing straight punches because I realised that he was weak in his defensive tactics,” he said.
Chapo felt he gave away the match in the last round,
“My counter did not work out because he was more on to keeping a short distance thus defending a lot. He is one of the best boxers I know therefore I have learnt a lot from him,” Chapo said.
Selected results
Women (52kg)
Lethabo Modukanele beat Gosaitse Nkepe 3-0
Men 64kg
Mompati Kabanjera beat Bakang Pelesane 2-1
69kg
Atang Mosenke beat Kebonyekgotla Lefaso (TKO)
75kg
Lentswe Zwinila beat Mothusi Moitoi 3-0