Terry-Anne Hart is following in the footsteps of esteemed boxing promoter Rodney Berman, who staged the first female world title fight in SA in February 2007.
In that fight, Laila “She Bee Stingin” Ali, daughter of the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, retained her WBC and WIBA super middleweight titles 56 seconds into the scheduled 10-rounder against Gwendolyn O’Neill at Emperors Palace.
Female boxing was officially allowed in South Africa with the passing of the Boxing Act of 2001.
Hart, a civil engineer and CEO of Fighters Club Boxing Promotions, will stage the IBO world junior lightweight title fight at the Wild Coast Casino in Bizana in the Eastern Cape on Saturday night.
This will be the first female IBO world championship fight in SA since the Ali-O’Neill clash in 2007.
“The history behind our IBO fight makes me super proud of what we are trying to achieve.” — Terry-Anne Hart
The IBO, based in Florida in the US, started working with SA boxing promoters in 1998, and over 50 local male fighters have won IBO world titles.
Ferreira is from Fietas in Johannesburg, while Simwaka comes from Lilongwe in Malawi.
Neither of these countries has yet produced a female IBO world champion.
Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba remains the only Malawian to hold an IBO belt — the super middleweight title he won in June 2010 at Emperors Palace under local female trainer Jodi Solomon.
It’s unclear if history will repeat itself with veteran trainer Vusi Mtolo from Durban barking instructions to Simwaka, whom he trains in Edenvale, Ekurhuleni.
The fight on Saturday under the banner “Battle at the Coast” presents both Mtolo and Ferreira’s trainer, Arafaat Kock, with the opportunity to produce their first female world boxing champion.
Hart staged her maiden boxing tournament in November in Pretoria, where Ferreira won the SA junior lightweight title.
Said Hart: “The history behind our IBO fight makes me super proud of what we are trying to achieve.
“What makes me even happier is the fact that the opportunity for both SA and Malawi to produce its first IBO female world champ is presented by a female.
“I am super proud that I have put this investment into boxing,” said Hart, “and I am glad that the lives of Bernice and Ellen will change after this fight.”
The SABC will transmit the tournament live on radio and TV, and Hart has also secured corporate backing.
A promoter needs these two ingredients to deliver quality events and still be able to pay boxers decent purses.
That combination enabled the likes of Berman, Mike Segal, Thinus Strydom, Branco Milenkovic, Ayanda Matiti, Tshele Kometsi, and Dewald Mostert to stage world title fights here.
Staging a world title fight is not cheap because world boxing bodies charge exorbitant sanctioning fees.
Tony Nyangiwe from Diepkloof, Soweto, will be the referee while Simphiwe Mbini from the Eastern Cape, John Shipanuke from Zambia and Patrick Mukondiwa from Zimbabwe will be the three judges.
Andile Matika from the Eastern Cape will be the IBO fight supervisor.
Mike Dube, Boxing SA’s provincial manager in KwaZulu-Natal, will supervise the undercard fights.
Hart’s “Battle at the Coast” tournament comprises seven bouts, three of which are female contests.
Ring veterans Gabisile “Simply the Best” Tshabalala and Thema “Stone Cold” Zuma, will do battle over six rounds, while fan favourite Jarred “Mr Hollywood” Silverman, will take on Khumbulani “Flint” Mdletshe over eight rounds
Action will begin at 7pm.
Sowetan
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