WeeklySA_AdminDESPONDENT:Hawk says promoters have dealt the sport a knockout blow
By Pule Mkhine
South Africa’s erstwhile boxing champion Welcome “ The Hawk” Ncita is pulling no punches by lamenting the dearth of talent from the current crop of local boxers as a result of promoters that he claims are not dedicated to the sport.
Arguably one of the country’s finest boxers in the past era, Ncita put the country on the global map by beating Frenchman Fabrice Benichou on points to be crowned IBF junior featherweight kingpin in front of a partisan crowd in Tel Aviv in 1990. So classy in the ring was the man from Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape, that he made seven successful defenses of his world title before losing it to American Kennedy McKinney in 1992.
Incidentally, McKinney held the championship belt briefly prior to being dethroned by Ncita’s stable mate Vuyani “ The Beast” Bungu, who went on to ingratiate himself with the South Africans boxing fraternity by making an unprecedented 12 IBF successful defenses.
Ncita who fights as a southpaw (a left-handed boxer), had chalked up an historic victory in winning the world championship belt at the time when the country was just coming out of the sports world isolation. Brian Mitchell had just won the WBA junior lightweight belt at the time and the Hawk had joined him in achieving this feat.
But it is the heart-warming story of Ncita that is more captivating. He was forced to put his global crown on the line outside his country – away from his fans – due to the apartheid laws that were prevalent in Mzansi at the time.
Having now retired from boxing competitively, the 55 year-old Ncita believes that unlike during their era, professional fighting has now lost the spark simply because of promoters who he claims, are no longer passionate about the sport of the fisticuffs, unlike when they were in the 1990s.
Having hung up his gloves professionally, he now trains amateurs in Mndantsane township.
But he does not shy away from unleashing a jab at the current crop of promoters that he believes are only there to stage bouts for the sake of making a quick buck for themselves, and not to untap the talent of pugilists.
This, he believes, has killed professional boxing and drove fans away from attending going fights.
The soft-spoken Ncita’s lightning-fast left hook was renowned for sending many foes to the slumberland during epic bouts. He is quick to mention the fact that top-class boxing ended during the period f when the generation of boxers in the mould of Bungu, Phillip “ Timebomb” Ndou, Masibulele “ Hawk” Makepula, Isaac Hlatshwayo and Lehlohonolo “ Hands of Stone” Ledwaba, were still active in ring. Sadly, the latter passed away last month due to Covid-19 related complications.
Ncita is extremely disheartened about what he sees inside the professional ring these days.
He is not coy to fire straight from the shoulder regarding the current state of the fight game.
“The quality of our current boxing tournaments has gone down the drain because promoters are just there to make a quick buck for themselves by staging bouts featuring lousy boxers that lack talent.
My honest view is that promoters are killing boxing by not looking at talent whenever they stage bouts. It is all about what goes to their pockets,” he says.
With the effect of the Covid -19 restrictions also having dealt the sports a cruel blow due to an embargo placed on attending and staging sporting countrywide, the Hawk feels nothing can be done to save boxing from hitting the canvas.
“It’s unfortunate that most fans have been forced to stay away from fights because of restrictions that have come about due to the pandemic. Hopefully, things will be back to normal in the near future.”
Ncita is also renowned for having held the SA flyweight crown which he proudly successfully put at stake five times during a glittering career. Among some of his victims that could not stand toe-to-toe with him were Victor Sonaba, Johannes “ Baby Joe” Miya and Kirk Morris.
He looks up to the day when boxing will recover from the knockout blow and be one of South Africa’s biggest spectator sports that it used to be in the past.
