Boxing South Africa (BSA) CEO Tsholo Lejaka is hoping to win new hearts and attract a wider audience for boxing during the 2017 Boxing South Africa Awards evening.
The awards will be held on February 2 in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The energetic BSA CEO, who has promised to restore boxing to its former glory days, said the event needs to reposition boxing to a wider audience.
At the heart of BSA’s quest is to restore trust and build strong bonds with the boxing family and members of the public.
Lejaka said, “We want to put together an event that doesn’t only cater for boxing fans but also for a wider audience.
“So, the challenge is to ensure that we have a nice mixture that caters for all.
“We have to win new fans on the night and people will only respond to the sport if we put world-class events. “However, it is important that we maintain credibility and not forget that the show is about boxing at the end of the day.”
He is aware of the perceptions people carry about boxing, “It is no secret that the sport has experienced some turbulence in the past couple of years and maybe during those years we took a credibility knock.
“However, we have been working hard to restore trust between us and the fans.
“We are also building bridges between boxing and the corporate world.
“But this won’t happen overnight and it won’t happen on its own, it needs us as boxing people to organise credible events that will restore this trust.”
A number of A-list celebrities and sporting icons have been lined-up for the event.
The full guest list will be released closer to the event.
Lejake said it is important to also foster strong relations with other sporting bodies during the awards.
“We have invited a number of other sporting bodies because we want to make this about sport.
“We would like to thank the Department of Sport and Recreation, led by minister Thulas Nxesi for the platform and support.”
All eyes will be on the main categories which include male and female Boxer of the Year.
The nominees for male Boxer of the Year are Azinga Fuzile, Thulani Mbenge, Kevin Lerena.
Female Boxer of the Year nominees are Prudends Mapule Ngubane, Bukiwe Nonina and Noni Tenge.
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