Former IBF world champion turned promoter Welcome Ncitha says he will never give up on his dream to see Grahamstown produce a South African boxing champ.
Former IBF world champion turned promoter Welcome Ncitha says he will never give up on his dream to see Grahamstown produce a South African boxing champ.
He says he promised Grahamstown he would give them an SA champion and he won't back down on it.
Ncitha was in town last week to promote a boxing tournament to be staged at the new Multipurpose Indoor Centre.
Three provincial titles will be up for grabs in Grahamstown in the next few months.
Local boxing kingpin Mziwoxolo Ndwayana will defend his Eastern Cape Welterweight title for the first time after losing out on an SA title fight. He was stopped by the incumbent Tsiko Mulovhedzi.
Welcome Ncitha says Ndwayana cannot be exiled from boxing after losing just one shot at a national title.
“The promise I made was to produce a South African champion who comes from Grahamstown," Ncitha said.
“He has a lot of potential and I have big dreams for him. It’s up to us as his team to make sure we take the loss suffered at the SA title fight and move forward. We can’t just sit back and give up,” said the former champ.
Ncitha says he still believes a shot at a world title fight is a possibility for Ndwayana, as long as they keep their eyes on the task they've set themselves.
"This is not only about him (Ndwayana). That’s why he’s got the manager and a promoter. We are a team and I believe there still big things ahead for us. The only mission we have is to produce a champion and that journey continues.
His father wants to produce a champion, I want to promote a champion and he wants to be the champion. All of us have that dream and Grahamstown will have a South African champion", added Ncitha.
Ncitha said he was one of the promoters who benefited from government funding to promote local boxing. He said he'd decided to take the tournament to the people of Grahamstown to promote the sport here.
“There’s only one reason I decided to take this tournament here in Makana, it was the promise I made to promote sport in this municipality. I believe there’s a lot of promise shown here,” said Ncitha.
The Ndwayana corner say they are moving forward from the mistakes they made in their SA title fight and are looking to find ways to claw their way back into contention.
A couple of wins for the local boxer could see him land another opportunity at the SA title his corner has been craving for years.
