‘Life is all about overcoming obstacles’
"This has been a very humble experience for me but all of us as South Africans have received curveballs in life. It's about how you bounce back from them and they end up building character. I believe we can overcome this together."
South African super middleweight titleholder, Rowan Campbell has offered encouragement to South Africans in light of recent events, even though his own shot at a world title was postponed due to the coronavirus.
The Melville resident, who grew up in Randpark Ridge and has a huge fan base in the Randburg area, also holds the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) All-Africa super middleweight title.
He was due to fight Russia’s Evgeny Shvedenko in Germany on 28 March for the vacant IBO super middleweight title, an international title that would have opened doors for him that no other title could. “It would have been an amazing achievement to fight for, even just having the fight lined up had sponsors calling me,” he said over the phone, still sounding enthusiastic.
“But all sports have been cancelled and you have to think it could be worse for me. Think of the guys training for years for the Tokyo Olympics to have it postponed. Life is all about obstacles and how you deal with them.”
When discussing the way forward in sports, Campbell looked at it from an even broader perspective.
“This has been a very humble experience for me but all of us as South Africans have received curveballs in life. It’s about how you bounce back from them and they end up building character. I believe we can overcome this together.”
On the evening of 23 March, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a nationwide lockdown from midnight on 26 March.
All businesses would close and only essential personnel or those seeking medical or urgent assistance or other essentials such as to buy food, would be allowed out of their homes.
