The long drawn-out impasse over the television boxing blackout may come to an end after Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula asked promoter Branco Milenkovic for a meeting to discuss the matter.
Milenkovic took Boxing SA to court after the regulatory body revealed that it would take ownership of the television rights contrary to the previous arrangement when promoters directly negotiated with the broadcaster.
Since the court action, boxing has been suffering a blanket blackout with the SABC refusing to beam tournaments until the matter had been settled.
However Mbalula, Milenkovic and SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng announced on national radio that the stand-off had been resolved and that boxing would return to national television soon.
But it later transpired that the matter was never vigorously discussed and the two parties reached a deadlock prompting Milenkovic to continue with his court action.
Mbalula reportedly put aside about R50-million to fight Milenkovic in court, with the minister subsequently launching a verbal attack on the Serbian-born promoter.
However after Mdantsane boxer Zolani Tete knocked out previously unbeaten Paul Butler in eight rounds in England recently, Mbalula again extended an invitation to Milenkovic to sit down and find a solution to the problem.
This after meeting Tete and Milenkovic at the Supersport studios where the IBF world junior bantamweight champion had been invited to talk about his scintillating win.
“Mr Branco, let’s fix whatever for the sake of our youth. It was sad to watch Zolani defend his title far away from home. I have made a commitment to see you, “ Mbalula said on Twitter.
Mbalula again made the follow-up and Milenkovic agreed to sit down and discuss the issue.
“Everyone knows that I have always been keen to discuss the problem and find a solution but it did not happen,” Milenkovic said.
“I believe this should have been resolved a long time ago but I guess it’s better late than never.”
The meeting is scheduled for next week but no specific date and venue has been agreed on.
Tete is one of the boxers hardest hit by the blackout as he has been forced to fight in his opponent’s backyard.
The 27-year-old boxer travelled to Mexico to beat Juan Carlos Sanchez for the right to challenge for the IBF title in November 2013.
Then he had to dust off his passport to go to Japan where he beat previously undefeated Japanese Teiru Kinoshita to win the title.
His trip to England where he beat Butler marked the third time in a row he was fighting abroad.
As if that is not enough, his forthcoming title defence against Puerto Rican McJoe Arroyo looks destined to be contested abroad after the provincial sports, recreation, arts and culture department was caught up in a bureaucratic red tape to financially support the fight to take place in the province.
Bid to end TV blackout fiasco
Milenkovic took Boxing SA to court after the regulatory body revealed that it would take ownership of the television rights contrary to the previous arrangement when promoters directly negotiated with the broadcaster.
Since the court action, boxing has been suffering a blanket blackout with the SABC refusing to beam tournaments until the matter had been settled.
However Mbalula, Milenkovic and SABC chief operations officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng announced on national radio that the stand-off had been resolved and that boxing would return to national television soon.
But it later transpired that the matter was never vigorously discussed and the two parties reached a deadlock prompting Milenkovic to continue with his court action.
Mbalula reportedly put aside about R50-million to fight Milenkovic in court, with the minister subsequently launching a verbal attack on the Serbian-born promoter.
However after Mdantsane boxer Zolani Tete knocked out previously unbeaten Paul Butler in eight rounds in England recently, Mbalula again extended an invitation to Milenkovic to sit down and find a solution to the problem.
This after meeting Tete and Milenkovic at the Supersport studios where the IBF world junior bantamweight champion had been invited to talk about his scintillating win.
“Mr Branco, let’s fix whatever for the sake of our youth. It was sad to watch Zolani defend his title far away from home. I have made a commitment to see you, “ Mbalula said on Twitter.
Mbalula again made the follow-up and Milenkovic agreed to sit down and discuss the issue.
“Everyone knows that I have always been keen to discuss the problem and find a solution but it did not happen,” Milenkovic said.
“I believe this should have been resolved a long time ago but I guess it’s better late than never.”
The meeting is scheduled for next week but no specific date and venue has been agreed on.
Tete is one of the boxers hardest hit by the blackout as he has been forced to fight in his opponent’s backyard.
The 27-year-old boxer travelled to Mexico to beat Juan Carlos Sanchez for the right to challenge for the IBF title in November 2013.
Then he had to dust off his passport to go to Japan where he beat previously undefeated Japanese Teiru Kinoshita to win the title.
His trip to England where he beat Butler marked the third time in a row he was fighting abroad.
As if that is not enough, his forthcoming title defence against Puerto Rican McJoe Arroyo looks destined to be contested abroad after the provincial sports, recreation, arts and culture department was caught up in a bureaucratic red tape to financially support the fight to take place in the province.
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