Boxing SA CEO promises consequences for ‘terrible’ officiating in Bloemfontein

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Boxing trainers Emmanuel Mutavhatsindi and Thulani Mhlubulwana are angry with the “terrible” officiating at matches in Bloemfontein on Saturday and have called on Boxing SA to penalise ring officials who continue to bring the sport into disrepute.

They say the two-day seminar BSA had with ring officials in Bloemfontein in July to improve their officiating skills was a futile exercise.

Joburg-based Mutavhatsindi from Limpopo said his two boxers — Emma “Short Gun” Mohono from the Free State and Musa “Gold” Rikhotso from Limpopo — were victims of “terrible” officiating in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The two boxers fought in the maiden tournament of Queens Empire Promotions’s well-organised women-only event at Batho Hall.

Mohono dropped her opponent, Namhla “Gupta” Mankayi, whose corner was manned by Mhlubulwana.

But the referee counted for Mohono instead of a fallen Mankayi, much to the shock of spectators.

It wasn’t until Mohono protested that the visibly confused referee started counting for Mankayi.

“Just explain to me, what is that?”, asked Mutavhatsindi, whose other boxer, Musa “Gold” Rikhotso, lost a six-round bout she won inside the ring to Thembisile “Beige” Thwala.

One judge scored that fight 60-40, while his two colleagues scored it 58-56 and 57-56.

“Not so long ago, BSA had a seminar with ring officials in Bloemfontein, but a month later, they made such mistakes,” said Mutavhatsindi.

Our next step now is to enforce the code of conduct which ring officials themselves have adopted

Mhlubulwana’s boxer, Zukhanya Mazaka from the Eastern Cape, dislocated her shoulder just after having a serious go at Malefu Kobe from the Free State in the first round.

The referee stopped the fight without consulting the ringside doctors, who have the authority to stop it.

“The referee did not call ringside doctors to monitor the injury; he just stopped the fight,” said Mhlubulwana from Duncan Village.

“You look at what happened between my other boxer — Namhla and Mohono — and tell me where we are going with boxing.

“I was not, and I am still unhappy about everything,” said Mhlubulwana.

“These decisions affect boxers’ records.”

BSA CEO Tsholofelo Lejaka attended the tournament where the BSA’s provincial manager, Lehlohonolo Ramagole, was bidding farewell after nine years with the regulator to join Golden Gloves Promotions.

Lejaka said: “The training of ring officials which we hosted hardly two months back ... has assisted us to zoom in on the root cause of our problems and eliminate some of the potential reasons we thought were contributory factors to bad officiating.

“Previously there used to be excuses that our ring officials have gone a long time without training, but now with them fresh from training ... poor officiating really has no place in our sport.

“As the regulator, our next step now is to enforce the code of conduct which ring officials themselves have adopted. Where decisions are poor but immaterial to the fight’s outcomes, the ring official will be demerited.

“Where the poor officiating could have had a material effect on the outcome of the fight, the fight review process will also kick in.”