Former boxing champions, top boxers and City of Johannesburg officials are exploring ways of getting Soweto to punch its way back to boxing glory.
The boxing legends from Soweto met recently with the City’s Sport and Recreation Department in Region D to discuss how the sport can be returned to its former glory.
The big names who attended the boxing dialogue included the likes of Lehlohonolo Ledwaba – famously known as the “Hands of Stone,” Bongani Mwelase, William Gare, Steve Semanga, Kgotso Motau, November Ntshingila, and Ditau Molefyane.
Ledwaba is one of South Africa’s finest boxers of the past decade, his titles include the World Boxing Union (WBU) in 1996, the International Boxing Federation in 1999 and the WBU again in 2002. As a retired professional boxer, Ledwaba now runs boxing development in Soweto to uncover and develop raw talent.
“Boxing in South Africa used to be a number two sport after soccer, but now the situation has changed and many people are slowly losing interest in this sport.
“So we need to work hard and stay united and revive this sport in Soweto, we cannot allow it to die just like that,” he said.
Another former boxer turned trainer, Steve Semanga, also runs boxing development and he said there was a need to introduce the youth that are now involved in drug abuse to boxing.
“A lot of the youth are involved in drugs and alcohol and boxing is a very disciplined and challenging sport, we need to start training them from a young age and not now thinking we will rehabilitate them,” said Semanga.
The boxers agreed that there was a need for them to unite and to continue engaging with the relevant sporting stakeholders in order to develop the sport. They said they needed the City to assist them in their objectives to build boxing gyms and to produce boxers from Soweto.
The Assistant Director for Sport and Recreation in Region D, Karabo Semenya, encouraged all the boxers to use the City’s 36 recreational facilities in the region.
“There are sporting areas available all over the city and we encourage all those who have passion to revive and train young people as boxers to use such facilities in their areas
i’m lookng for boxing training