A BOXING league that is set to add some much-needed punch to the dwindling sport was announced in a packed meeting at the Mdantsane Hotel in Mdantsane at the weekend.
The league coined Premier Boxing League (PBL) is the brainchild of former SABC television boxing commentator Dicksy Ngqula, who together with Boxing SA, unveiled it to local boxing stakeholders on Saturday.
The league is the first of its kind in the country and likely in the entire world and is expected to revolutionise boxing and return the embattled sport to its former glory.
Currently boxing is in the doldrums and is being overtaken by other codes such as swimming for popularity even though it is still revered in the Eastern Cape.
The league, which is scheduled to kickstart in May in a venue yet to be confirmed in East London, will feature four boxers per division competing for honours in a point-form system.
So far four divisions have been identified as junior-flyweight, junior-bantamweight, junior- featherweight and junior-lightweight.
Boxers who want to be considered for participation will apply and once they meet the grade, will fight three times for crazy purses of around R60000 per fight in six-round bouts.
Overall a boxer participating in the league will be guaranteed a R180000 payment in an unprecedented move as boxers fighting over six rounds usually receive no more than R10000.
Ngqula said the league was aimed at empowering boxers and increasing their marketability. “We want the money to filter down to the boxers and make them stars again,” he said.
With free-to-air television channel e-tv on board as well as a host of other financial backers, the project will also involve a reality show which will see participants being followed by television cameras in their daily lives such as going shopping, school and gymnasiums.
Ngqula said the rounds were reduced to six in order to accommodate non-boxing fans.
“This is not aimed at boxing purists who want to see sustained boxing action. This is meant to accommodate everybody.”
The winner of the overall league in all the divisions combined will walk away with a grand prize of a million rand. In an unprecedented move the entire boxing fraternity welcomed and embraced the project with the meeting even erupting into screams of delight especially when the purses were mentioned.
Boxing SA which was represented by its chief executive Moffat Qithi, director of operations Loyiso Mtya and a few board members confirmed that Ngqula pitched the idea to the structure a few years ago.
“He first presented the concept to the national department of sport which advised him to bring it to us and after dissecting it we saw it as a brilliant innovation,” said Qithi.
Ngqula said the fights will be screened live on e-tv every month in a programme called “Fight Nights” beginning on a date yet to be confirmed in May.
Development promoters will be selected to stage the fights in conjunction with PBL Operations Pty.
The legion of funders of the project include the Eastern Cape government through the provincial Gambling and Betting Board.
After the first leg of the league, expected to feature eight or night fights per season, has been completed in the EC, it will be rolled out to the other provinces. The project will run for five years and be reviewed thereafter.
League to give fight game big lift in EL
The league coined Premier Boxing League (PBL) is the brainchild of former SABC television boxing commentator Dicksy Ngqula, who together with Boxing SA, unveiled it to local boxing stakeholders on Saturday.
The league is the first of its kind in the country and likely in the entire world and is expected to revolutionise boxing and return the embattled sport to its former glory.
Currently boxing is in the doldrums and is being overtaken by other codes such as swimming for popularity even though it is still revered in the Eastern Cape.
The league, which is scheduled to kickstart in May in a venue yet to be confirmed in East London, will feature four boxers per division competing for honours in a point-form system.
So far four divisions have been identified as junior-flyweight, junior-bantamweight, junior- featherweight and junior-lightweight.
Boxers who want to be considered for participation will apply and once they meet the grade, will fight three times for crazy purses of around R60000 per fight in six-round bouts.
Overall a boxer participating in the league will be guaranteed a R180000 payment in an unprecedented move as boxers fighting over six rounds usually receive no more than R10000.
Ngqula said the league was aimed at empowering boxers and increasing their marketability. “We want the money to filter down to the boxers and make them stars again,” he said.
With free-to-air television channel e-tv on board as well as a host of other financial backers, the project will also involve a reality show which will see participants being followed by television cameras in their daily lives such as going shopping, school and gymnasiums.
Ngqula said the rounds were reduced to six in order to accommodate non-boxing fans.
“This is not aimed at boxing purists who want to see sustained boxing action. This is meant to accommodate everybody.”
The winner of the overall league in all the divisions combined will walk away with a grand prize of a million rand. In an unprecedented move the entire boxing fraternity welcomed and embraced the project with the meeting even erupting into screams of delight especially when the purses were mentioned.
Boxing SA which was represented by its chief executive Moffat Qithi, director of operations Loyiso Mtya and a few board members confirmed that Ngqula pitched the idea to the structure a few years ago.
“He first presented the concept to the national department of sport which advised him to bring it to us and after dissecting it we saw it as a brilliant innovation,” said Qithi.
Ngqula said the fights will be screened live on e-tv every month in a programme called “Fight Nights” beginning on a date yet to be confirmed in May.
Development promoters will be selected to stage the fights in conjunction with PBL Operations Pty.
The legion of funders of the project include the Eastern Cape government through the provincial Gambling and Betting Board.
After the first leg of the league, expected to feature eight or night fights per season, has been completed in the EC, it will be rolled out to the other provinces. The project will run for five years and be reviewed thereafter.
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