devalued
Deon Potgieter Boxing
The days when the best boxer in a respective weight division was the national champion are long gone. Once these men were just a step away from the greatness of an international title.
But with the current 17 weight divisions and around 13 world title sanctioning bodies, compared to one world champion and eight weight divisions in the sport’s first 70 years, a national title has been somewhat diluted in the global boxing arena.
However, says Bert Blewett, editor of Boxing World magazine, “a national title still does have value”.
“But,” he adds, “it has certainly been devalued.”
In South Africa, one of the main reasons for this is the newly formed National Boxing Commission’s inability of matching our top contenders for national title fights.
“We always used to blame this sort of thing on the old commission,” says manager/trainer Norman Hlabane. “But the new commission is just as bad, maybe worse.”
Blewett adds: “A prime example of this was last month’s fight between [junior welterweight champion] Lawrence Ngobeni and Vuyani Hanebe. Everybody in boxing knew that Hanebe didn’t belong in the same ring as Ngobeni. What made things worse was that after the bout Ngobeni admitted to carrying the challenger through most of the fight.”
Hanebe was the number 10 challenger for Ngobeni’s title. The champion dropped Hanebe twice in the sixth round and the challenger failed to come out for the seventh. Two higher-ranked fighters had put in challenges, but were overlooked by the commission.
“Not only does this discredit the title, but also the commission,” says Blewett.
After the defence of his title (his fifth) Ngobeni said he was ready for a crack at a world title. This concept seems ludicrous. Although Ngobeni is undefeated after 23 fights and has always looked impressive in the ring, he has not yet been tested by the likes of Jan Bergman and Naas Scheepers, his number one and two challengers respectively.
“To be a true world champion you must beat the best in your own country,” says Hlabane.
Although Bergman is looking for a world title fight himself within the next six months and therefore would not be interested in a national title, Scheepers would be keen to get into the ring with Ngobeni, given the opportunity.
It’s through no fault of his own that Ngobeni defended against the lowest-ranked challenger of his title. The boxers are not given a choice of who they’ll defend their titles against, rather it’s prescribed by the commission. When challenges are issued the commission selects one contender.
“There’s definitely favouritism involved,” says Hlabane. Blewett concurs.
Trainer/manager Harold Volbrecht saus: “One of my fighters, Mack Razor, was ranked number two for the junior middleweight title. When Mpush Makambi vacated the title, you’d think that Mack would fight the number one contender for the title. Instead the commission sanctioned a title fight between two guys who weren’t even rated in the junior middleweights.”
Volbrecht, a former national welterweight champion, holds the record for number of successful defences of a national title: 19 times. He says: “All the guys I defended against would be able to win a national title today. The commission must get their act together and select the boxers better.”
Although national titles are still viewed as a symbol of pride by the champions who hold them, in truth they have been relegated to a stepping stone for young, up and coming fighters. Last year’s prospect of the year, Philip Ndou, is now the current national featherweight champion. Below him in the rankings are three former world champions – Vuyani Bungu, Welcome Ncita and Mbulelo Botile.
The likelihood of seeing any of these big- name fighters challenging Ndou is less than zero. Although each fight would definitely be a big attraction, these former champions are all looking for bigger fish. At the end of the day money is the determining factor; with the proliferation of world titles around today, any of them hold larger financial gain than the national title.
The devaluation of national titles is not unique to South Africa. The once revered Commonwealth title has also lost a lot of its previous importance – to such an extent that there is no longer a top 10 rank for the various weight divisions. There is a champion and a list of 12 fighters, in no particular order. Whichever one of those fighters wishes to challenge for the title may do so. If the status of our national titles were restored to their former glory, it could lead to a larger international respect for our boxers.
The new CEO of the boxing commission, Mava Mala, has vowed to do just that. He pledged to make the national title more prestigious and uplift it value to its former status.
Just as Currie Cup rugby was once revered throughout the world as the training ground for champions, so too could our national boxing titles be valued.