DODGING bullets in a war-torn country can strengthen the weakest of resolves and the success of Democratic Republican-born boxers plying their trade locally are the testament to that.
Balemo Weliya is one of the DRC-born fighters taking SA boxing by storm just like his compatriots Zack Mwekassa, Flo Simba, Ilunga “Junior” Makabu and new sensation Paul Kamanga.
But Weliya is the only DRC boxer based in the Eastern Cape where he has already made his mark by first capturing the provincial title with a second round knockout of Ayanda Nongena in Queenstown in September 2010.
He later added the SA super-middleweight diadem to his collection, stopping Goodman Dywili in nine rounds in October 2011.
It is still a mystery how the 32-year-old stocky fighter was allowed to contest for the local titles when rules forbid foreigners from contesting for provincial and national crowns.
But Weliya is not about to look back and enter into an argument about Boxing SA’s slipup when he has an important task this Saturday when he will be defending his crown against Johannesburg challenger Charles Oosthuizen (5-0, 2KOs) at Fort Hare University Hall in Alice.
“My focus is on this fight because I have not defended my title since winning it two years ago,” he said.
His victory over Dywili was a crowning moment of his long journey which started back in DRC where he did not know if he would see the next day of sunshine due to the bitter civil war.
One of 10 kids dependant only on his single mother to provide for them, Weliya was lured into boxing after watching video-footage of Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya.
That passion, fused with the tribal fights of a different sort, shaped Weliya’s fighting prowess and encouraged him to follow a career in the controlled way of combat.
He saw boxing as a sport to fulfil such desire.
“Back home fighting was our daily life,” he recalls. “If it was not civil war then it was tribal fighting among young boys in the survival of the fittest mode.”
This constant fighting was to strengthen his resolve and helped him in his chosen boxing career, where he fought so many times at the amateurs that he cannot even remember the number of his bouts.
The strife of war back home was too much for a number of young boys and many of them including Weliya fled the country.
While some settled in Johannesburg, Weliya opted for Durban where he resumed his boxing career by turning professional.
According to record-keepers, Weliya has fought only 10 times with two losses in the pro ranks but the fighter disputes this insisting his number of fights is 19 with three losses.
He relocated to East London and joined the stable of Elliot Mjele in NU5 in Mdantsane where he refined his technique from constant sparring sessions with smaller fighters.
Mdantsane is regarded as the breeding ground of boxing talent but it is in the lighter division where such talent abundance is found.
Big boxers therefore struggle to find proper sparring partners but through improvisation fighters of different sizes are sometimes matched against each other.
“When we want to improve certain aspects of a fighter we do match fighters of different sizes against each other,” reasons Mzi Mnguni whose Eyethu gym is one of the top establishments in Mdantsane .
Weliya is grateful to Siphatho Handi of Mamali Promotions for organising his title defence against Oosthuizen after the fight fell through on numerous occasions under other promoters.
“This long inactivity was beginning to affect me and I even considered moving to Johannesburg,” Weliya says.
Stepping into the ring is a realisation of a dream which brings back memories of his struggle for survival back home for Weliya.
And this inner feeling is shared by all his compatriots who see the ring as the battleground of survival that helps them to strive for victory at all costs.
“It goes without saying for us that when we enter the ring we think of war and nothing else,” Weliya adds.
“You can see the way all the DRC fighters fight and you will realise that losing is not an option for us.”
Indeed fighters such as Mwekassa and Makabu become monsters inside the ring and hardly take a step back.
Weliya, who enjoys a strong bond with his compatriots, says the mental fibre strengthened by civil wars helps DRC boxers in the ring.
“We are always in touch and we send messages of encouragement to each other before our fights,” he says.
“This feeling of knowing that my fellow brothers are behind me drives me to go for broke and that is what I will do against Oosthuizen on Saturday,” he concludes.
Weliya fired up for ring battle
Balemo Weliya is one of the DRC-born fighters taking SA boxing by storm just like his compatriots Zack Mwekassa, Flo Simba, Ilunga “Junior” Makabu and new sensation Paul Kamanga.
But Weliya is the only DRC boxer based in the Eastern Cape where he has already made his mark by first capturing the provincial title with a second round knockout of Ayanda Nongena in Queenstown in September 2010.
He later added the SA super-middleweight diadem to his collection, stopping Goodman Dywili in nine rounds in October 2011.
It is still a mystery how the 32-year-old stocky fighter was allowed to contest for the local titles when rules forbid foreigners from contesting for provincial and national crowns.
But Weliya is not about to look back and enter into an argument about Boxing SA’s slipup when he has an important task this Saturday when he will be defending his crown against Johannesburg challenger Charles Oosthuizen (5-0, 2KOs) at Fort Hare University Hall in Alice.
“My focus is on this fight because I have not defended my title since winning it two years ago,” he said.
His victory over Dywili was a crowning moment of his long journey which started back in DRC where he did not know if he would see the next day of sunshine due to the bitter civil war.
One of 10 kids dependant only on his single mother to provide for them, Weliya was lured into boxing after watching video-footage of Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Oscar De La Hoya.
That passion, fused with the tribal fights of a different sort, shaped Weliya’s fighting prowess and encouraged him to follow a career in the controlled way of combat.
He saw boxing as a sport to fulfil such desire.
“Back home fighting was our daily life,” he recalls. “If it was not civil war then it was tribal fighting among young boys in the survival of the fittest mode.”
This constant fighting was to strengthen his resolve and helped him in his chosen boxing career, where he fought so many times at the amateurs that he cannot even remember the number of his bouts.
The strife of war back home was too much for a number of young boys and many of them including Weliya fled the country.
While some settled in Johannesburg, Weliya opted for Durban where he resumed his boxing career by turning professional.
According to record-keepers, Weliya has fought only 10 times with two losses in the pro ranks but the fighter disputes this insisting his number of fights is 19 with three losses.
He relocated to East London and joined the stable of Elliot Mjele in NU5 in Mdantsane where he refined his technique from constant sparring sessions with smaller fighters.
Mdantsane is regarded as the breeding ground of boxing talent but it is in the lighter division where such talent abundance is found.
Big boxers therefore struggle to find proper sparring partners but through improvisation fighters of different sizes are sometimes matched against each other.
“When we want to improve certain aspects of a fighter we do match fighters of different sizes against each other,” reasons Mzi Mnguni whose Eyethu gym is one of the top establishments in Mdantsane .
Weliya is grateful to Siphatho Handi of Mamali Promotions for organising his title defence against Oosthuizen after the fight fell through on numerous occasions under other promoters.
“This long inactivity was beginning to affect me and I even considered moving to Johannesburg,” Weliya says.
Stepping into the ring is a realisation of a dream which brings back memories of his struggle for survival back home for Weliya.
And this inner feeling is shared by all his compatriots who see the ring as the battleground of survival that helps them to strive for victory at all costs.
“It goes without saying for us that when we enter the ring we think of war and nothing else,” Weliya adds.
“You can see the way all the DRC fighters fight and you will realise that losing is not an option for us.”
Indeed fighters such as Mwekassa and Makabu become monsters inside the ring and hardly take a step back.
Weliya, who enjoys a strong bond with his compatriots, says the mental fibre strengthened by civil wars helps DRC boxers in the ring.
“We are always in touch and we send messages of encouragement to each other before our fights,” he says.
“This feeling of knowing that my fellow brothers are behind me drives me to go for broke and that is what I will do against Oosthuizen on Saturday,” he concludes.
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