Simwaka feels cheated because she ‘fought away from home’

Malawi’s well-established professional boxer Ellen “Tigress” Simwaka feels cheated by the three judges who scored her IBO world junior lightweight title fight in favour of Bernice “The Badger” Ferreira on Saturday evening.

The closely contested 10-rounder took place at the Wild Coast Sun in Bizana, which is on the border of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

The scores read 98-92 (twice) and 97-93. The judges were Simphiwe Mbini (Eastern Cape), John Shipanuka (Zambia) and Patrick Mukandiwa from Zimbabwe.

Andile Matika from the Eastern Cape was the fight supervisor.

Simwaka is based in Edenvale, where she is trained by Vusi Mtolo, who was up against four trainers − Colin Nathan, Shannon Strydom, Ryno Liebenberg and Bernie Pailman.

There is no love lost between Nathan and Mtolo.

They worked together for more than 10 years, and Liebenberg is one of the boxers they guided to winning multiple titles before Mtolo went solo.

Nathan and Pailman are bosom friends, while Strydom uses Nathan’s gym.

Ferreira is trained by Arafaat Kock, while Nathan manages her career. Ferreira became the first local female boxer to win the IBO world title.

Simwaka is unsure if she suffered an away-from-home decision, something that many local boxers have come across when fighting outside SA, or if it was an honest “error” of judgment.

“I worked too hard, coming on in two weeks as a late replacement [for her countrymate and stablemate Adidja Mimu] and to have the fight taken away from me just like this,” said Simwaka, who fought her best fight ever in SA since she made her debut in 2017 in a WBF international bantamweight bout she drew with Melissa Miller.

“I believe they planned this. Even when we went for the interview for African Women in Sports, they acted funny towards me.

“I knew I needed a knockout to win this fight; no matter how hard I fought, I was not going to get a points decision.”

Irked by the verdict, Simwaka said: “They gave Bernice a gift she does not deserve. She did not win the fight in the ring.

“My heart is broken, but I won’t let it break me. I want to thank Fighters Club Boxing Promotion for the opportunity to fight for a world title.

“I am so grateful. I want to thank my sponsors, Njkilo, and Danie du Preez, my strength trainer; coach Vusi Mtolo and assistant Sihle.”

Simwaka took the fight in two weeks because her colleague, Mimu, had medical problems. Simwaka jumped two weight divisions to face Ferreira in the junior lightweight division.

“I pushed myself to get a little fitness, and I dominated Bernice and won,” said Simwaka, who gave Ferreira a run for her money throughout 10 rounds.

To her fans, Simwaka said: “Thank you for sticking by me. I felt your energy; I know I won the fight, and the world knows. They messed up my record, but we move forward.”

Promoter Terry-Anne Hart, who staged the tournament − the first IBO female world championship in SA — commented afterwards: “Ellen came across more on the forward, throwing a lot of punches, but her punches did not really land.

“In terms of landing the cleaner punches, the ratio was higher on the side of Bernice. In my opinion, Bernice won clean.”

Ferreira, who happily announced after the fight that she and her partner, Lee-Ann “Mshoza” Jansen van Vuuren, would get married, said: “It feels amazing to be a world champion. It was a tough fight, and I asked for a test, and I got it. Now I know I am as good as I thought.”

Regarding Simwaka’s opinion about the outcome, Ferreira said: “I think she is a sore loser; I know I am the winner and I know I won; her opinion does not matter to me.”

Ferreira remained undefeated after 10 fights, while Simwaka suffered her seventh defeat against 14 wins and two draws.

Chair of the KwaZulu-Natal Professional Boxing Federation, Sandile Vilakazi, commended Hart for the tournament.

Boxing SA’s provincial manager in KwaZulu-Natal, Mike Dube, was the tournament supervisor.

“I would like to formally invite your [Hart] promotion to consider staging a similar tournament in Durban,” said Vilakazi.

“We believe that your contribution to the sport would greatly benefit the boxing community in our province and further strengthen the development of professional boxing in KwaZulu-Natal.”