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Ring magazine top 10 flyweights zolani tete and Moruti mthlane will face off on the undercard of Mzonke fana vs Cassius baloyi who are both ring magazine top 10 lightweights.. on the same card ring magazine top 10 straweight katsunari takayama will take on a south African in a title elimination or for the IBO title not too sure and also ring magazine top 10 jr featherweight Jeff mathebula will face tkalani ndlovu...for the hardcore boxing fans this is pretty cooool
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Yeah, it's a good card. I think the Fana-Baloyi rematch and the Mthlane-Tete fights are pick em type fights. Takayama should be able to beat Lefele but that's just from looking at Lefele's boxrec record, I have never seen the guy fight. -
Hope they dont get robbed or kidnapped in that ***** hole.Comment
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For the two or three that might care...
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_i...2759599C134259 (July 29, 2010)
Boxing gets raw deal from SABC
By NEVILLE KHOZA
AHEAD of his crucial fight against old nemesis Mzonke Fana, International Boxing Federation (IBF) contender Cassius Baloyi has expressed his disappointment with the public broadcaster SABC, who have blacked-out boxing.
The public broadcaster does not have enough money to pay for boxing broadcasting rights after they spent R30 million during the soccer World Cup. As a result the SABC might not be able to televise the fight between the two pugilists, who are set to clash for the vacant IBF lightweight title on August 27 in Johannesburg.
"I'm not happy about it, I'm very disappointed we feel like we are left out now it is disappointing," said Baloyi. "It's bad for the fight like this not to be televised, but we have been told that fight maybe televised. But we were hoping that they will broadcast it throughout the year until next year."
According to sources, the SABC pays promoters R500 000 for legitimate world title fights, R250 000 for a marginal world title contest and R150 000 for South African title bouts for the broadcast right per tournament. About 36 tournaments are screened live by the SABC each year, but since April this year, only five tournaments have been televised live.
"This is frustrating for the boxers, during the recent fight two weeks back the fight was delayed by another week this is bad," said Baloyi, who lost the title to Malcolm Klassen last year.
Baloyi's fight against Fana will be a repeat of their 2008 fight where Baloyi relieved Fana of the same title. The 36 year-old said he is determined to do well against Fana again and keep the title.
"I'm hoping to do well this year, I'm preparing hard for this fight as I'm looking forward to being the IBF champion again. So far so good I will continue working hard," he said.Comment
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Local TV may miss out on ‘African Glory’ bill
Promoter Milenkovic gives SABC deadline to make up its mind about being part of big boxing tournament or not
KULANI NKUNA
Published: 2010/08/25 08:08:36 AM
THE government may step in to resolve the impasse between the SABC and the boxing fraternity in light of the build-up to Branco Sports Productions’ “African Glory” bill, the biggest boxing event yet in SA, being overshadowed by the possibility that it will not be shown on local TV.
The SABC has not screened a boxing tournament since April and has given no indication of when the blackout will be lifted.
A spokesman for the Department of Sports and Recreation, Manase Makwela, yesterday confirmed the department was aware of the situation and was in the process of deciding whether it should intervene between the parties.
“The department has requested that the parties involved in the boxing broadcast matter give clarity as to what the actual problem is. The department will only intervene if deemed necessary,” Makwela said.
Speculation continues about the screening of the “African Glory” tournament, scheduled to take place at Carnival City on the East Rand on September 1, and fight promoter Branco Milenkovic has given the SABC until the end of business today to be part of the event or he will proceed without them.
However, Manase maintained that the department’s concerns were with boxing in its entirety and not just the “African Glory” event.
“There are a lot of issues involved, like the matter of dates, time, sponsorship and viewership. But we acknowledge that broadcast is valuable to the sport of boxing. Hence we will look at the entire sport and not just the upcoming tournament,” Makwela said.
This comes after Milenkovic announced yesterday that he has secured international TV coverage for the event which will feature two International Boxing Federation (IBF) world title fights as well as two IBF eliminators.
“We would be breaching our contract, which stipulates that the SABC has exclusivity on our promotions and our fighters within SA if we went with a local broadcaster,” said Milenkovic.
“But we cannot wait for them forever because they have known about this tournament since February but are still dallying. The deadline is the end of business (today) and we will go ahead and utilise other options outside the country,” the promoter said.
SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said that he was not aware of such a deadline as he was at Parliament in Cape Town yesterday. “I am not aware of this deadline and indeed if I was, I would need to respond to the person that has sent it and not through the media,” Kganyago said.
Milenkovic is determined to push ahead with alternative plans. “We are very capable of doing our own high quality production as well as doing our own broadcast outside SA. We are working along those lines because this is too big a tournament not to attract other television networks, and our fighters deserve such exposure,” he said.
The tournament will feature the eagerly anticipated IBF junior lightweight title rematch between Cassius Baloyi and Mzonke Fana, and an IBF title defence by champion Moruti Mthalane against Zolani Tete. The bill will be rounded off by Takalani Ndlovu and Jeffrey Mathebula in an IBF junior-featherweight mandatory eliminator and Tshepo Lefele and Katsunari Takayama in an IBF mini-flyweight eliminator.
Kganyago said earlier this month that the live-boxing blackout was due to planning processes that were delayed because of the Soccer World Cup. The SABC would make an announcement as soon as it had completed its procedures.
“We usually plan ahead in terms of our boxing coverage, but this year we could not do so because of the World Cup. We are busy with the planning process for boxing dates at the moment and we will make an announcement in due course.”Comment
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Boxing, SABC in talks to resolve TV coverage
Published: 2010/08/27 07:35:17 AM
KULANI NKUNA
A LIGHT of hope is flickering at the end of the tunnel in the feud between the SABC and the boxing fraternity after the SABC resumed talks for live TV coverage of tournaments.
The broadcaster showed its intent to mend its relationship with the boxing industry by making offers to promoters Branco Milenkovic, who will be promoting the historic “African Glory” bill at Carnival City on September 1, and Koko Godlo, who will be promoting a female boxing tournament on September 12 in East London.
Boxing SA acting CE Loyiso Mtya confirmed the latest move and lauded the SABC for taking a step in the right direction.
“I can confirm to you that boxing will be back on the screen. We all know that the SABC has its own challenges and now we know that they are trying their best to sort them out. This is a step in the right direction and the relationship between boxing and the SABC is healthy,” he said.
The squabble between the station and the boxing community was heightened by Milenkovic’s landmark tournament facing the commercial danger of not being shown live on TV in SA.
Milenkovic had given the public broadcaster — with whom he has an exclusive broadcast contract — until the end of business on Wednesday to decide whether the SABC would televise the event live or not.
“We got a reply from the SABC late on Wednesday night with an offer to televise the event. However, their offer is apart from reality and at the moment we are at the round table negotiating the offer,” Milenkovic said.
“But we are happy the SABC has acknowledged the magnitude of the event and has come to the party in terms of broadcasting it. We are in the middle of crucial negotiations. But in the event the negotiations fail, we will proceed with our plans to broadcast the event outside the country as planned,” he said.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago confirmed the offer to broadcast the “African Glory” tournament but could not commit specifically to other tournaments as well.
“At the moment we are in negotiations with the promoter (Milenkovic) for the event on September 1. Discussions are ongoing and we will make an announcement as soon as they have concluded. But we are still looking at strategic and holistic ways of broadcasting boxing in the future,” he said.
Mtya added that he was positive about the future of boxing coverage and said the two offers were positive for the sport.
“These moves will point us in the right direction. The SABC is saying that we are looking to show the tournaments live. Whether or not Branco decided to accept the offer is important, but what is more important is the willingness from the SABC.
“The reason they are focusing on these two promoters is because both tournaments are taking place in the near future,” Mtya said.
Well-known trainer Nick Durandt was indifferent to the matter of whether the tournament is broadcast or not. “I am not bothered whether they show it or not. All that the SABC is doing is showing disrespect to the public.
“It is disappointing that two years ago I handed the SABC the best boxers in the country when I left M-Net and Golden Gloves. And this is what I get. They are killing our fighters. But let us see what the outcome of the negotiations is.”Comment
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