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Tyla Promnick is optimistic about a brighter future for the youth in SA.
Everybody thinks it’s doom and gloom, but if a person can hang on and actually expand in times like this, by the time this turns around everything is going to be ecstatic.
The young SA boxing champ, a BSc and theology student, is conscious of challenges faced by the youth, mostly unemployment, but she’s encouraging them to stay disciplined, put in the work, and be patient with personal, professional, or creative development.
She has set herself the humongous goal of becoming an undisputed world boxing champion.
In her teething boxing career, she won the SA mini-flyweight belt in her sixth professional fight in May, and her victory at 21 made her the youngest female boxer here to hold a national title.
Winning the SA title is a launching pad to gain recognition from major world boxing bodies.
Nicknamed “Duracell” by her trainer Alan Toweel Jnr, due to her relentless, high-energy pace and stamina during training and fights, Promnick says: “There is no mediocrity when it comes to us South Africans. No doom and gloom – too blessed for that.
“Winning it has changed my mindset, my confidence, and I think it’s proven to myself that if I put my mind into something then I will achieve the goal that I set for myself. More opportunity are being created for young boxers.”
Toweel said Promnick is committed to improving herself each and every week. “Two days after winning the title, she was back in gym, and I had to tell her, ‘no hang on’.
“The SA belt is the most prestigious title one can achieve before going international. Our intention was to go slow with her process but it seems to be going faster than I thought.”
Sowetan
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