Amateur boxers from Glenmore showed more than just sparks of brightness when they convincingly outperformed a boxing club from Port Elizabeth recently.
The tournament took place at Glenmore Community Hall and saw the local Phakamisa Boxing Club face Walmer Boxing Club.
Amateur boxers from Glenmore showed more than just sparks of brightness when they convincingly outperformed a boxing club from Port Elizabeth recently.
The tournament took place at Glenmore Community Hall and saw the local Phakamisa Boxing Club face Walmer Boxing Club.
During the tournament Phakamisa dominated proceedings and won 14 of the 16 available trophies, including the overall winners’ trophy.
Mzwanele Mkatali, the club’s manager, said he was happy about how his boxers fared in the 36-bout tournament.
He said that after noticing the high unemployment rate in Glenmore he and the club’s president Ben Mafani decided to re-establish the then defunct boxing club early this year.
“Lack of employment resulted in us resuscitating the club, so that we can steer development in the right path in order to turn boxing into a job-creation initiative,” said Mafani.
The boxers are between the ages of 10 and 32 years. “The majority of our boxers are unemployed, while the rest are still at school,” Mkatali said.
Despite the lack of training facilities the club is faced with, Mkatali is clear about their aims. “We want to produce professional boxers.”
He said the club has only one aging punchbag to train with and that the facilities which were used during the tournament belong to the Walmer Boxing Club.
He appealed to government departments and businesses to sponsor their club. “We would appreciate it if we were to get sponsorship for the acquisition of proper training facilities,” he said.
Mafani added that the local community supports the club but that the club has not informed the municipality about its plight.
Walmer Boxing Club manager, Vuyani Coko said the tournament was a success because the Glenmore community supported it.
“A lot of money was made during the tournament and we decided that all proceeds should go to Phakamisa and be spent towards acquiring training facilities,” he added.
He thanked Nelson Mandela Bay Metro mayor Zanoxolo Wayile for donating the trophies and medals which were handed over to winners.
“We decided to take the tournament to Glenmore because we were told that there’s no boxing taking place there. We therefore wanted to revive the sport in that area and ignite some passion for it in that community.”
