Boxing has suffered a black eye due to incompetence from BSA’s provincial manager, Phakamile Jacobs. His duty was simple: to add scores by the judges from the first until the last round and come up with the winner.
How he got that wrong remains a mystery, and now Sharadene Fortuin and Melissa Miller went through stressfulmoments not knowing exactly who emerged victorious for the SA bantamweight title in East London last weekend.
It is interesting to see what actions will be taken after the promised disciplinary process “against all involved”. The initial verdict, which favoured Miller, had to be reversed, with Fortuin reinstated as the champion.
Erick Sithole, Boxing SA’s acting CEO, met the two boxers’ trainers Lonki Witbooi and Lucky Ramagole in Durban on Saturday. He said the outcome was that Fortuin and Miller, whose fight was their third, would do it all over again in Durban in August.
“We found a compromise,” said Sithole. “Both parties have agreed to a rematch; it will be in a neutral venue in KwaZulu-Natal between August 19 and 20.
“Both parties have also made what we call new demands in relation to a rematch. BSA apologises about the harm caused to both camps and to the entire fight fraternity. All international issues in relation to the matter will swiftly be dealt by BSA, and this includes those involved appearing on BSA’s disciplinary process.”
Lonki said: “I was very disappointed, especially having watched the fight. I was more convinced about my boxer throughout this whole saga. Everybody just focused on Melissa. No-one was attention to Sharadene’s emotional state.
“I made sure that she gets justice and that she is reinstated as the champion. She was traumatised and somehow feeling guilty of the crime she did not commit.
“Even the compromise we reached, I had to make sure that it makes financial sense to her because as the fight was a draw; we had no obligation to defend against Melissa. I am glad that justice has prevailed.”
Ramagole said: “I am not really happy. The only way I will be happy is only if the title is declared vacant. We must both go in the ring as challengers. I don’t mind the rematch but it must be new judges – not the ones that were in charge of our previous fight with Fortuin in Durban because even in that fight we felt hard done by judges.”
Miller, from Eldorado Park, was declared the winner last weekend by a split points decision. Scores read after 10 rounds were 95-94 and 97-93 in Miller's favour, while the third judge scores was 93-97 for Fortuin, from the Eastern Cape.
Then on Wednesday, BSA issued a statement saying upon verification and scrutiny of the scorecards, the fight was a split draw.
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