BOXING NEWS - Zolani Tete from the Eastern Cape, who had an outstanding year, is the supersport.com boxer of the year for 2017.
He claimed the WBO interim bantamweight belt when he beat Arthur Villaneuva on 22 April, before being elevated to full champion by the WBO to become only the sixth South African to hold a WBO belt.
Tete finished the year in sensational style when he knocked out fellow South African Siboniso Gonya in defence of the WBO belt, in a world record eleven seconds to retain the belt.
A runner-up for the prize, also from the Eastern Cape, is the 21-year-old Azinga Fuzile, who made two successful defences of his South African featherweight title and won the final of the Super Four featherweight competition when he stopped the vastly experienced Tshifhiwa Munyai in three rounds.
Rather sadly, the boxing year we have just experienced is once again one of the poorest in the history of South African boxing, especially on the world scene. However, due to the high cost of importing top class fighters to South Africa and the exchange rate, promoters can only afford to promote fights with the lesser world bodies.
It is a rather sad indictment of the current depression in South African boxing when an outstanding fighter like former IBF and IBO bantamweight champion Moruti Mthalane had only three fights in the year against low-key opposition when he should have been challenging for one of the major world titles.
Hekkie Budler, South Africa’s first “super” champion, only had two fights in 2017, winning one and losing to Milan Melindo in a challenge for the IBF junior-flyweight title.
Only Zolani Tete (WBO) holds a major organisation belt, and at the end of the year South Africa had three other “world” champions in Kevin Lerena (IBO cruiserweight), Gideon Buthelezi (IBO junior-bantamweight) and Simphiwe Khonco (IBO mini-flyweight).
