Female fighter advocates for women in boxing

Considered one of the top female fighters in the country at the moment, Simangele Hadebe, also known as ‘Smash’, is advocating for women in boxing.

The 27-year-old boxer from Walkerville, trained by Harry Manaka, is contending for the South African flyweight title.

Hadebe is outspoken about women in boxing being given more opportunities to fight, fair pay and receiving more support from provincial structures.

After kick-starting her professional fighting career in 2016, she was awarded the Female Prospect of the Year Award by Boxing South Africa (BSA) for two years in a row, in 2017 and 2018.

The self-assertive fighter told the COURIER that her journey was inspired by the movie Million Dollar Baby.

“I tried playing chess, karate and table tennis until I watched the movie Million Dollar Baby, a sports drama film, and I decided to start boxing and I have loved it ever since. As a woman in boxing, I’m not only fighting for myself, but also for all the abused women and children who can’t fight for themselves,” said Hadebe.

She reiterated that she has always been passionate about sports.

“I was an athlete at school and loved doing cross country. I then decided to focus on another sport after completing matric. It was during my gap year and after my application was declined at tertiary level that I started developing a love for boxing,” she said.

The future looks bright for Hadebe and there is much she wants to accomplish as a female boxer before putting her gloves down.

She is confident in making a name for herself and collecting as many belts as she possibly can in her division, especially the world title belts.

“It will take a while before I get there I know, especially since we are not that much active in the country. Fighting the same person more than twice is one of the biggest challenges because that doesn’t make you grow, and getting sponsorship is also a challenge,” said Hadebe.

If you want to sponsor Simangele Hadebe, contact her on 064 135 3232.