LIMPOPO – Musangwe Tournament, the bare-knuckled traditional boxing popular in the northern parts of Limpopo, is staged annually at Tshifudi during the festive season and is scheduled to start on the 16th of December and until January 2018.
According to the President of the tournament, Musangwe Ndevana, the tournament is a traditional practice that separates men from boys, and they are proud of it.
“The fights were started by our ancestors and they are approved by local traditional leaders. These fights are attended by men only while women sell items such as traditional energy drinks from a distance. No one stops the fight except the fighter who feels the heat.
The fighters fight for nothing except to earn the respect of all the men present,” said Ndevana.
Some residents however expressed their concerns about the health implications of bare-knuckled fighting which, among other things, exposes fighters to HIV-Aids infections, to which Ndevana responded by indicating that they will have mobile clinics and health practitioners on standby to assist when necessary.
He added that fighters were only allowed to use fists.
“We always ensure that Musangwe is safe.
“When a fighter sustains a cut or bleeds during a fight, we have to stop the match. Most of our fighters have the potential to make it in professional boxing and we encourage them to follow that route rather than end up as unpaid fighters.
“There is a lot of money in boxing and we are hopeful that we will soon produce a world champion from this area,” he concluded.
