Boxing SA should consider allowing interviews with ring officials, specifically judges, especially when there is a situation that requires clarity on their conduct.
These men and women of high nobility could be willing to make their point through in order to dispel the assumption that some of them go into particular fights with their minds already made up on who should win a fight.
Some clarity was needed when two of the three judges voted Sharadene “Shinzo” Fortuin as the new SA female bantamweight champion on Sunday. That verdict — from untrained eye — looked surprising because defending champion Mellissa “Honey Bee” Miller looked to have done enough to retain the belt.
The scores were 96-94 (twice) and the conclusion from a spectator point of view was that Miller was the one who had impressed those judges with her gallant performance. But it was not to be. Instead, Fortuin — who looked not to have taken the title away from the defending champion — was the one whose arms were raised as the triumphant.
The third score of 95-95 was fair. But it did not matter on the day. The whole idea of the media not being permitted by the authorities to speak to the judges leaves one wondering as to when will they provide education and clarity as to what they are trained to look out for when scoring a boxing match.
Ushered to war by trainer Lucky Ramagole, the pocket-sized former champion gave her best ever performance in all her 18 fights. She dictated the terms of the clean-fought 10-rounder and was dominant. On the other hand, Fortuin looked ring-rusty and was unable to get into her gear.
Fortuin — whose corner was manned by Harry Ramogoadi and Sechaba Mabuya — last fought in 2018 when she won the IBO Inter-Continental belt.
The star of the afternoon was Smangele “Smash” Hadebe. She was sizzling and actually showed readiness to fill in the shoes of Noxolo Makhanavu, who vacated the SA flyweight title last week. Hadebe outclassed equally competent foe, Thema Zuma, over eight rounds.
Their fight deputised for the main event between Fortuin and Miller in Gauteng Boxing Promoters Association’s tournament that was part of women’s month celebrations.
Organisers — Shereen Hunter and Nomakhosi Mabuya — had intended featuring women only but their intentions were scuppered by withdrawals due to medical reasons. They ended up including two male bouts in order for their event to meet the required number of rounds for the tournament to be sanctioned — as per Boxing SA’s regulations. Their tournament was well-organised.
Other female results: Monalisa Takane beat Nosicawe Dube on points over four rounds; Enelies Nkwathi (Malawi) beat Lufuno Mutshayi TKJO 6.
In the male section, Thamsanqa Luthuli beat Mfanafuthi Ntuli on points over four rounds while Clement Pius and Themba Hadebe drew after four rounds.
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