05 Aug 2024

Boxing fans were on Saturday treated to a display of top-notch bouts at Pleasure Island outside arena in Francistown.

The Botswana Boxing Association’s interclub tournament that went into the night produced some nail-biting moments that kept fans on their toes.

The 54 kilograms category male bout between national-team sparing partners and buddies Rajab Mahommed of Mafika Boxing Club and George Molwantwa of Police did not disappoint in what was by and large the match of the night.

The duel between the two elite pugilists, who have been prominent national team members because of their exquisite boxing skills, had all the hallmarks of a perfect boxing match: speed, agility, zeal, power, and sheer class.

However, at the end, Molwantwa won the match 5-0, and the two embraced each other in true camaraderie and sportsmanship spirit.

Bout number 11 in the female 57 kilograms category between Chedza Montse of Sir Seretse Khama Barracks and Gift Modise of Francistown produced fireworks, a testament that women pugilists have come of age.

The two displayed a lot of maturity, and in particular, Gift, whose blows-wielded a lot of power, outclassed her opponent, leaving the referee with little choice but to stop the match. Gift was thus the winner of the bout by Referee Stop Contest.

A duel between Pearl Mokokwe and Rose Monna of UB Boxing Club and Francistown Boxing Club in the 54 kilograms category was yet another thriller.

Rose threw some red-hot punches at times, forcing Pearl to clutch onto her opponents to try and avoid excessive pounding.

However, like a true rose, the UB boxing club blossomed with each round and outcompeted her rival to win the match 5-0.

Earlier on, the Botswana Boxing Association’s Public Relations Officer, Gaone Motshwanaesi, said the interclub tournament hosted by Francistown Boxing Club had brought together different clubs from across the country.

She hastened, however, to state that some clubs had not been able to participate in the weekend tourney due to lack of finances and appealed to potential sponsors to come to the fore.

“Most of our clubs do not have sponsors, so let me take this moment to appeal to people out there to come on board and assist,” she said, commending Thapama Hotel for giving them space to hold the one-day tour.

The association president, Gilbert Khunwane, was happy with how the tournament turned out. He also cited lack of sponsorship as the primary reason some clubs did not turn up.

“Twenty bouts—it’s a good number, but we usually have two times the number of bouts we had tonight,” he said, echoing Motshwanaesi’s words about the need for well-wishers to help the sport grow.

He attributed the failure of BOBA to send boxers to the ongoing Paris 24 Olympics to lack of prior preparations and called on all and sundry to stem the tide and partner with the association so that the sport could send boxers to the Los Angeles Olympics billed for 2028. Ends