Unity and speaking in one voice will remedy the ailing boxing in SA . This is the general view from the country’s all-time great fighters who gathered at Bernie’s Joint, Koedoespoort in Pretoria, where the Boxing Legends United South Africa reunion took place on Saturday.
It was organised by founder member and former SA lightweight champion Danny Mayburgh. It became a plethora of stars of yesteryear, and that includes Harold Volbrecht, Pier Crous, Jan Bergman, Brian Mitchell and Ditau Molefyane. Some of those retired heroes became emotional when they got to meet the opponents they had not seen in many years.
Volbreht did not win a world title, but he holds a record of 19 defences of the SA welterweight belt. Crouws was the SA and WBA cruiserweight champion; Bergman held the SA and WBU welterweight belts; Mitchell held both the SA, WBA and IBF junior lightweight title and he remains the only local fighter to be inducted in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in New York, US, while Molefyane was the first local fighter to win a WBF belt.
“We can do better and produce stars of tomorrow because there is talent here at home. We just need to come together and share ideas,” said Crouws, who fought big names including Randy Stephens and Dwight Braxton, AKA Muhammad Qawi.
“I am not involved in boxing because I lack patience, when I tell a person to do something in a particular way and they do it their way, I lose it. But I will gladly participate in a symposium where all former and current trainers, boxers and promoters gather to brainstorm about what needs to be done to heal our sport.”
Said Mayburg: “Put a million rand here and make me choose if I take it or mingle with these wonderful boxing people. I am telling [you] now, I will.
"Sit here and spend the whole night talking to my fellow former fighters; we are united in one thing – the long of boxing – which brought us together during our time, and it is for all those reasons that I decided that we must form a Boxing Legends United SA.
“You don’t have to have won a title to belong here, every single individual who laced boxing gloves and jumped inside the ring is welcomed here. Our first reunion did not go great because of Covid-19, but I had faith that such a day will come and I am filled with emotions.”
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