The 2025 edition of the Annual Transnet Boxing Development Tournament, like the ones that preceded it, proved to be a success this past weekend.
The tournament was held at the Nellmapius Community Hall on Saturday and aspirant boxers of various age groups strutted their stuff.
The attendant crowd was wowed and mesmerised by the talent that was displayed by the boxers as they traded leather in the boxing ring.
The annual Transnet tournaments have been in existence since the 1990s and many boxers in Tshwane have over the years been given an opportunity to showcase their boxing skills at these tournaments.
Mamelodi boxing clubs like Beer Hall Boxing Club, Rethabile Boxing Club and Mabetha Boxing Club are the ones who organised the Transnet Annual Tournament this time around.
Other boxing clubs whose fighters also took part in the tournament include Tiere Tuyn, Pretoria North, Transnet Engine, Mabopane and Soshanguve.
“We are glad that Mamelodi is back in the boxing limelight after being absent for several years,” said Johaan Prinsloo, President of the Tshwane Metro Boxing Organisation who served as one of the officials at the tournament.
“There’s lots of boxing talent in Mamelodi and this is good because boxing keeps the kids away from the streets,” said Prinsloo as he revealed that he is a former amateur Middleweight champion.
“There are people who still believe that boxing is a barbaric sport, but the truth is that boxing teaches those involved in it to be disciplined individuals,” he said.
Former Lightweight and Welterweight amateur champion Jackson Masango told Tshwane Talks that they were not getting paid for developing boxing and arranging tournaments in Mamelodi, but that they were working as volunteers because of the love that they have for boxing.
“The aim of the Transnet Boxing Development Tournament is to promote boxing talent in the townships of Tshwane,” he said.
Masango handed medals to the boxers who won their fights in the tournament.
Younger boxers went for three rounds of 1 minute each, while older ones went for three rounds of three minutes each.
The tournament was officiated by two lady boxing judges and also had one lady working as a coach for several boxers on the day.
One of the tournament’s judges Delbrah Shabangu from Mamelodi West told Tshwane Talks that she started working as a boxing judge at tournaments earlier this year and that she has been a boxing coach for a year and a half now.
“I was originally involved in the sport of swimming but when swimming pools got closed due to scarcity of water in Tshwane and the restrictions which were imposed by the City of Tshwane Municipality to preserve water, I immediately turned my attention to boxing and became a boxing coach,” she said.
“Boxing is not a pub brawl or street fight, it is a decent sport whereby boxers must use their timing and tactics to defeat an opponent,” said Shabangu as she revealed that two of the boxers that she trains at Beer Hall in Mamelodi West won their fights at the Transnet Tournament in Nellmapius on Saturday.
She encouraged both girls and boys to start boxing at an early age so as to adapt early to the sport.
Former amateur female National Heavyweight Champion Makushla Du Toit, whose fighters also took part in the tourney, told Tshwane Talks the following:
“I made many friends in boxing and was inspired by the Transnet Tournament to become a boxer, and I am happy that some of my boxers have won their fights in this tournament,” she said.
She decided not to turn into a professional boxer as she had to go into the business sector.