His boxing career is dead and the epitaph reads: ”Here lies the once skilful Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, who committed suicide after experiencing more pain than pleasure in the cut-throat game.”
Ledwaba, a three-time world champion, ended his life as a fighter by disclosing to the Sunday Times that he had an eye injury that had required surgery.
With that seemingly innocent comment, Ledwaba unwittingly ended a 17-year career as a prize fighter. It was just 48 hours before what was to have been another shot at another world title.
In fairness, the ”coroner’s” report will show that the ”cause of death” was an injury that came to the fore when Ledwaba fought unheralded Ghanaian Maxwell Ahuku in North West last November. The Sunday Times reporter simply pulled the plug on what was already an irreversibly comatose body.
”I killed my career by telling the reporter that I took the fight having previously acquired a detached retina. The report appeared a day before the pre-fight medical,” Ledwaba said this week.
Boxing South Africa (BSA) was not aware of what had happened to Ledwaba in Denmark. When it read the newspaper report, said Ledwaba, it ”arbitrarily cancelled my fight licence”.
He said of the fight against Ahuku: ”From the fourth round, everything was blurry and I couldn’t judge the distance. I tried fighting on until I retired in round nine. This was a problem that started when I fought in Denmark [in 2004] against Spend Abazi and I took it lightly. After the [Abazi] fight, I went under the knife to repair the problem [in the right eye] and I thought I was cured.”
But the problem was not healed and Ledwaba encountered problems in North West.
In his heyday, Ledwaba cut the faces of his foes into halves with the precision of a surgeon. He wore the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior featherweight and World Boxing Union (WBU) bantamweight and featherweight titles.
Ledwaba did not accept that, by revoking the licence, BSA might have been motivated by a desire to save him from further danger. ”I was about 95% fine,” he said.
Ledwaba said he was suspicious when he got a call from a Golden Gloves Promotions’ representative on Monday morning after the report was published. He was instructed to take in a doctor’s letter that certified his eye operation was a success. Unfortunately, he could not find the letter ”in a few hours’ time”.
After the pre-fight medical, Ledwaba was declared fit and there were reports in the media to that effect. He said he was shocked when he learned from the media the next day that his licence had been revoked.
”The boxing authorities did not even have the decency to tell me that they have decided to discontinue my fighting career, but surprisingly [they] told the media,” said Ledwaba.
”I have experienced a series of painful moments in boxing, but this was the worst. I dug my own grave by the things I told the reporter.”
BSA’s spokesperson, Loyiso Mtya, agreed that Ledwaba was the author of his misfortune. ”Ledwaba initially messed it up for himself by disclosing his eye problem to the media when BSA did not know about the problem. The media then jumped on the story before we could tell him the latest [news] about his licence.”
Ledwaba’s manager, Norman Hlabane, said: ”My fighter was in great shape for the fight and would have certainly gone on to reclaim his world championship status. How sad.”
Ledwaba, who turns 36 on July 27, said boxing was a cruel game. He had many unpleasant memories and would not encourage his son to box. Ledwaba has two children, a son named Thato (15) and a daughter, Kopano (10).
Ledwaba said another regret was that he believed he gained greater recognition outside his country than from his compatriots.
Ironically, his first name — Lehlohonolo — means blessing or luck. But the fighter said he had experienced more anguish than luck in his boxing career.
The announcement last week put an end to a career that seemed set for great things when Ledwaba won the IBF title against American Michael Johnson in 1999. Ledwaba went on to retain the title five times, until he collided with Filipino Manny Pacquiao, losing on a sixth-round knockout.
Ledwaba seized the WBU crown from the legendary Vuyani Bungu, who had retained the IBF world title 13 times, a South African record.
Ledwaba, with a ring record of 46 fights, winning 37 — 21 on knockouts — and losing six, said he regretted turning down American promoters who had tried to persuade him to join forces with them. At the time, Ledwaba was suspicious about migrating to the US.
”I was just too loyal to my local promoter. Who knows where I would be if I had migrated?” he asked.
Ledwaba believed one more fight in South Africa might have helped him to gain the acceptance he ”rightly deserved” in his country. Unfortunately, that turned out to be just a dream.