IN the nineteen sixties and seventies, many South African fighters travelled across the borders to lace up their gloves in our neighbouring countries. This was necessitated by the laws of the day prohibiting black an white fighters from meeting each other in local professional rings. Fortunately those days are long gone and professional boxing is at last set to bloom on the continent. Ellerines Furnishers, who have been involved in boxing for over twenty years, recently announced that they will be sponsoring tournaments in Swaziland, Lesotho, Namibia and Botswana. This sponsorship which was orchestrated by Stan Christodoulou, former Executive Director of the National Commission, who now works as a consultant for boxing control throughout Africa, is in conjunction with TV Africa. “We have always wanted to take boxing to our neighbouring countries,” says David Lazarus, Ellerines Group Marketing manager, “but until now there hasn’t been an effective infrastructure in place.” The first Ellerines-backed tournament takes place on Saturday in Swaziland and features fighters from nine African countries, including South Africa. The main event is a WBA continental championship bout between James Wanene (Kenya) and Mbwana Matumla (Tanzania). South African heavyweight prospect Hein Van Bosch is one of seven local fighters to compete on the ten fight tournament. These bouts will be televised throughout Africa by TV Africa.