Talk of bad vibes for move KO’ed

East London promoter Khaya Majeke has denied that he has left for Johannesburg for not receiving financial backing in the province.

Majeke made the comments after he announced he would be organising a boxing tournament at Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg after getting funding from the Gauteng department of sports.

The tournament on Friday will see veteran Johannesburg boxer Patrick Malinga taking on Ashton Whiteboy of Cape Town for the vacant WBA Pan-African interim lightweight crown.

Duncan Village boxer Morris Lento will also see action against Cebo Ngema in a bantamweight encounter.

Majeke said the event dubbed “Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Multi-sport Festival and Expo” will form part of the three-day sporting extravaganza that will also include bodybuilding.

However, the focus has been on Majeke’s decision to present the boxing show in Gauteng.

The matter was exacerbated by his revelation that he would be presenting the tournament under his newly formed KM Sports Promotions company.

Majeke has been using KK Wajima Promotions (KKWP), co-owned with football veteran administrator Zola Dunywa.

Asked if he had severed ties with Dunywa, Majeke said KKWP was still operating although it has not organised a boxing show this year.

“KKWP is still alive and there is no bad blood between me and Bro Zet,” he said.

But sources revealed that Majeke, a former SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) manager, had decided to go back to Johannesburg after being frustrated by a lack of support back home.

Majeke insisted that he had registered KM Sports as a national promotion company to be eligible to organise tournaments around the country.

But he could not say which promotion outfit he would use if he organises a tournament in the province.

While the Eastern Cape department of sport, recreation, arts and culture is assisting with boxing development by inviting tenders for promoters to submit applications, there is a growing discontent with how the process is being managed with some promoters missing out on their slice of the pie.

Only a few promoters benefited from the financial windfall in the last financial year, while no beneficiary has been confirmed for this year after the tender process was closed at the end of March.