However names the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, George Foreman and Jake LaMotta are forever woven into the threads of the era when boxing was still one of the best loved sports.
eMalahleni’s own Springbok super-heavyweight boxer Paul Schafer has entered into the platinum era of boxing. An era that has so much potential and enough space for him to edge his name into its history.
Paul is on the doorstep of one of the most important sporting events this year, the Commonwealth Games.
He is included in the boxing team participating in Glasgow from July 23 to August 3. His team-mates are 2012 London Olympians, Ayabonga Sonjica (56kg) and Siphiwe Lusizi (75kg) and Tulani Mbenge (69kg), Luvuyo Sizani (81kg) and female boxer Phathiswa Thingana (75kg). This formidable team is ready to make their gloves do the work at the games.
Paul’s training has intensified this past two weeks.
“I have been going to a conditioning coach to improve my speed, strength, agility and power. Then sparring against other boxers has also taken a front seat in my programme,” Paul said.
Being a construction manager and still finding time to study, Paul had to really make every second of every day count.
“Somehow you find a balance and you squeeze every moment out of every spare minute. That means sometimes going to Pretoria in the early hours of the morning to train,” he said.
The road to the Commonwealth Games was not an easy one.
Because South Africa was suspended from the Olympic open style International Boxing Association (AIBA) boxers lost their rankings. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee ruled that individuals and teams must be ranked in the top five of the Commonwealth to make the squad. Boxers had to again start from the bottom up and build their rankings.
Hours of training paid off when Paul won a gold medal during the
African Zone Four championships in Pretoria in April. He was also named boxer of the tournament and his rankings picked up.
Team manager Johan Prinsloo is very excited about the team and the upcoming games.
“We are leaving on Tuesday and our boxers are ready. We used the Africa Cup as a preparation for the Commonwealth and they boxed against the best in Africa and made us very proud.”
When asked who is the favourites to bring back medals he said, “
“It’s very difficult to say who are the favourites to bring back medals, but each boxer in his own right is a favourite, it all depends on the draw on the first day. But we have prepared for any draw.”
Prinsloo went on to say that the focus in training has been on the highest achievements possible and not just on making the podium. “At our training camps we don’t train for just a medal, we have been training for the gold medal and with this attitude in training sessions we are creating a winning attitude.”
