Deon Potgieter BOXING
Tsietse Maretloane etched his name in the history books on November 14 1977 when he became South Africa’s first “supreme” featherweight national champion. The bout was a unification of the black and white national titles.
Maretloane is a former minister who has turned his hand to promoting boxing. He seeks to honour former president Nelson Mandela, a known boxing enthusiast, at a world title bout to be staged in Umtata, near the former president’s home town.
The tournament’s main event will be an International Boxing Organisation (IBO) straw-weight world title bout featuring South African champion Kulile Makeba and is scheduled to take place on June 10.
“The motivation behind the boxing festival is to pay tribute to the champion of human rights: Nelson Mandela,” says Maretloane.
Preceding and after the boxing tournament, Maretloane plans to have a music festival featuring popular musicians from Natal and East London. Ticket prices will be kept to a minimum to ensure that access to the event is within reach of the average man.
“People think that the 5E000 who attended the [Baby Jake] Matlala/ [Hawk] Makepula fight in February was one of the biggest crowds,” says Maretloane “That was nothing. I was at the fight between Gerrie Coetzee and John Tate in Pretoria in 1979. Ninety thousand spectators filled the stadium. It was unbelievable, magical. That’s what I want to bring back. I want to bring the crowds back to boxing.”
In another historical first, Zolille Mbityi will become the first boxer to have a world title fight shown exclusively live on the Internet. Mbityi will be defending his IBO flyweight world title on April 13 in London. The bout which will be shown live on www.fightnight.com is being promoted by Frank Maloney and the website itself.
With the securing of television dates for boxing tournaments always a contentious issue for promoters, the Internet may be a viable alternative.
Mbityi’s opponent in this, his first defence of his world title, is the tough Argentinian Sandro Oviedo. Mbityi won the world title on his fourth attempt in October last year in Poland. An impressive showing by Mbityi could herald in a new era of sport broadcast as we know it.
Fightnight is hoping to broadcast one world title fight a month initially and then expand to broadcasting one fight a week. Real.com and Real Player will be used to distribute the live video and sound. Talkpoint radio will supply commentary.
ENDS