A new era has dawned at Boxing South Africa, and women in the sport are hoping these new faces bring with them some much-needed change in and out of the ring.
Boxing South Africa finally has a new board after a previous one was dissolved. Sports, Arts, and Culture Minister Gayton Mckenzie has appointed Ayanda Khumalo as the new Chairperson. Mthokozisi Radebe, Sydney James, Rina Jude, Saudah Hamid, Siyakhula Simelane, and Vincent Blennies make up the rest of the board, which has been tasked with breathing some new life into the federation.
Someone who is keenly looking forward to the changes is Colleen McAusland. The well-known manager and promoter of women’s boxing says corporate sponsorship can help women in the sport in several ways.
“Boxing sponsorships provide extensive exposure through televised fights, press conferences, weigh-ins, and digital platforms. This exposure can also reach a global audience of boxing fans. This is what our women in boxing need. Brand image is where sponsorships can help shape a female boxer’s image and increase brand awareness for her.
Boxing Promoter and Manager, Colleen McAusland
“Sponsorships can provide financial support for women in boxing, which can help with training facilities and equipment, attracting top talent, and developing new girls in boxing,” says McAusland. “Financial support makes it possible for our champions to train full-time, eat healthy, and pay rent without juggling work and training.”
“Brands can build long-term relationships with female boxers by sponsoring them early in their careers. This can lead to increased loyalty and commitment from the boxer, who may be more likely to promote the brand.”
Someone who could be a beneficiary of such change at Boxing SA is Razell Mohamed. The cruiserweight champion who turned pro in 2019 and says one of the biggest changes that needs to be put in place is ensuring female boxers have regular bouts.
“I need to speak specifically for us as women before I can speak about boxing in general. For us, fights are few and far apart. Many promoters still refuse to have female fights on their bill.”
SA Cruiserweight Champion, Razell Mohamed
McAusland wants to see females in the sport getting the same opportunities as men as well as ensure there is financial remuneration for fighters and promoters alike.
“We would also like to see that women promoters that get government-funded money, the conditions should be that there needs to be more female bouts on those tournaments and not only male bouts, it needs to be equal. If there are six bouts then there can be three males and three females.”
Mohamed agrees: “The Boxing SA board needs to put something in place that forces promoters to have at least 30% of their bill containing female fights.”
“This is the only way things will change. Fifty percent ideal, but we are not even close to that yet. Women don’t also get paid the same as the men for the same standard of fight.”
SA Cruiserweight Champion, Razell Mohamed
“We want equality in the sport, that is one thing we are going to be insisting on and we are not going to back down from that this year. We want to see champions being elevated just as well as the men do. We are very hopeful, that is why I say we are very happy that women are on the board, and that the chairperson is a woman.”
McAusland goes on to say that there also needs to be a focus on the development of female boxers, to ensure positive growth for the sport in the future.
“The board needs to develop more up-and-coming women in the sport, they need to do development programs. Hopefully, we can get boxing into schools because Gayton McKenzie was talking about that. We need to develop more females in our sport, so I hope the new board has a vision for development and then also a vision for our champions.:
“They need to be recognised internationally. We are also hoping that Boxing South Africa gets more sponsorships on board so that more tournaments can happen and our females can fight more.”
Boxing Promoter and Manager, Colleen McAusland
Mohamed juggles being a full-time teacher as well as owning her own business, along with her boxing career. She has shared that fights have been few and far between for her, but she is hoping this can change.
“My boxing career is a bit slow at the moment. I haven’t had a fight in over a year, but there definitely should be some options opening up soon. I might have to drop a weight category to find someone to fight as there are so few women to fight in my current division.”
SA Cruiserweight Champion, Razell Mohamed
“We also hope they will positively impact women’s boxing when it comes to the awards,” continues McAusland. “I feel that female boxers need their awards because they have to come up against guys that get opportunities to fight internationally whereas our women boxers don’t get those opportunities, hence they are not getting the awards.
“I think that it is unfair that they don’t get the opportunities but when it comes to the awards then they are included in the categories. The women need to have their categories at the awards.
“We also hope that the board will take a strong stance on tournaments being canceled, where the boxers are preparing for fights weeks before and then it’s canceled, and there is no payment or anything done for the boxer, who has been training so hard and paid money prepare for a fight, when there is no compensation for them whatsoever,” McAusland said.
Main Photo Caption: SA cruiserweight champion Razell Mohamed pictured. Big changes are expected at Boxing SA after a new board was announced by Sports Minister Gayton Mckenzie in December, and well-known promoter and manager Colleen McAusland hopes sponsorship for women’s boxing is a focus point. Photo: Supplied
Photo 2 Caption: National champion Mohamed proposes a minimum of 30% of bouts being reserved for women boxers. Photo: Supplied
Photo 3 Caption: McAusland believes that investment can be made in a number of ways, including an emphasis in recognition for women competitors. Photo: Supplied
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