WeeklySA_AdminFEMALE PROMOTER: Kungwane takes the bulls by the horns to honour her late partner Lehlohonolo Ledwaba
By Pule Mokhine
Ring Side View
South Africa’s prominent female boxing promoter Joyce Kungwane;’s quest to spread her wings as one of Mzansi’s top fight impresarios is continuing unabated.
Through her fast-growing promoting consortium TLB Promotions, Kungwane is now toying with the idea of keeping alive the memory of her late life partner, Lehlohonolo “ Hands of Stone” Ledwaba by staging a tournament dedicated to the memory of the former world champion in July.
The month will coincide with the one-year anniversary of Ledwaba’s unexpected passing on July 2 2021 after succumbing to the Covid -19 pandemic at the age of 49. At the time of his death, “Hands of Stone” was a trainer and one of the founding members of TLB that was originally – from 2016 – co-owned by Dingaan “ The Rose” Thobela, Jan “Kid Gavillan” Bergman and Dr Chris Nteta. The four subsequently quit the company, leaving Kungwane as the sole owner to steer the ship alone.
And the “ Iron Lady” of boxing in Mzansi has soldiered on admirably by taking the sport of boxing to the enviable direction through staging top-class events single-handedly in the environment widely dominated by male promoters. This is in spite of the wide criticism levelled against her by naysayers that she would not make her mark in the ring as a promoter.
But Kungwane has soldiered on and steered the ship alone by staging quality fights in the stable and acquitted herself well alongside some of the top promoters such as Rodney Berman of the Golden Gloves Promotions, for an example.
Last year alone, despite strict Covid-19 protocol restrictions, TLB managed to showcase five tournaments at different venues. This includes all female tournament in September in Polokwane, a WBA bout in June featuring Xolisani “ Nomeva” Ndongeni and hotshot Hekkie Budler who slugged it out on the bill against an international foe.
This year saw TLB putting on three exciting bouts on the line for fans throughout the country. And the fans just relished that.
Now Kungwane believes staging the next showdowns for Ledwaba will be ideal. During his boxing days, Ledwaba, was hailed for having exchanged blows with the legendary Filipino Manny “ Pacman” Pacquiao, but quit boxing 2006 due to eye problem.
The erstwhile WBU bantamweight, IBF junior featherweight, WBU and IBO featherweight holder then held a long list of boxers as a trainer when his boxing days were over.
In a short while, Ledwaba produced an SA champion when Tshepang Mohale won the supermiddleweight title in 2009, Two years later, he guided Doctor Ntslele to the SA flyweight championship. Ledwaba produced his first global titlist in 2014 when Zolani Tete captured the IBF junior bantamweight belt. Now Kungwane believes the forthcoming event will be ideal to honor the memory of the man of Ledwaba’s stature.
“ Ledwaba was my man through and through while he was still alive. He deserves a tournament in his honor because he had been supportive of me ever since I started promoting boxing. He has been a wonderful life partner. What more can I thank him for being in my life except by staging a tournament in his honor” said Kungwane.
Sje said details of the event would be unveiled soon. TLB is widely renowned for having resuscitated the careers of forgotten fighters. Some of the notable fighters that Kungwane brought from oblivion are Ndongeni, Thulani Mbenge and Bukiwe Nonina.
She can take pride from staging celebrity boxing bout between celebrity rapper Refiloe Phoolo known as Cassper Nyovest and Anga “NaakMusiQ” Makhubalo in front of some 3000 fans at the Sun City Superbowl in the North West last month.
Makhubalo outpointed Nyovest over five rounds . Their bout was a catchweight which means it is the weight agreed only by the boxers themselves. And there is no shadow of doubt that honoring Ledwaba in a tournament will bring more glory for the promoter in her quest to take boxing to the next level.
