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.
