South Africa’s boxers have failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. That means for the first time in more than 100 years - since the 1912 Games in Stockholm - an SA team will feature no pugilists.Seven SA boxers went to the qualifying tournament in Baku‚ Azerbaijan‚ this week‚ and only one managed to win his opening fight.Light flyweight Sibusiso Bandla reached the quarterfinals after beating Daniil Platonovschi of Moldova and then Yechan Lee of Korea‚ both by unanimous decision.But in the final eight on Tuesday night he went up against India’s Devendro Laishram - a quaterfinalist at the London Olympics and Commonwealth Games silver medallist - and all three judges scored it 30-27 against the South African.Only the two finalists of the light flyweight class will qualify for Rio.Among the six SA fighters to lose their opening fights was the sole survivor of London 2012‚ Ayabonga Sonjica.He was one of five SA boxers to lose by unanimous decision in the preliminary bouts‚ while the sixth lost by split decision.Boxing‚ with 19 medals from 1920 to 1960‚ was once SA’s richest source of Olympic medals‚ being overtaken at Sydney 2000 by track and field‚ which has 24 to date.Swimming‚ with 15 gongs in all‚ could get close to boxing in Brazil considering Chad Le Clos is targeting three individual medals and Cameron van der Burgh at least one.SA boxing has won six gold medals over the years‚ the same as athletics and swimming‚ but that too could change in Rio.The sport has been in decline since readmission at Barcelona 1992‚ and the size of the Olympic fistic team has been consistently shrinking.At Atlanta 1996 they numbered five‚ and in 2000 and at Athens 2004 that had dropped to three. At Beijing 2008 only one qualified‚ while two made it to the Games four years ago.A major difference for 2016 was that the SA Olympic Committee (Sascoc) insisted that codes qualify using international criteria‚ instead of African avenues‚ as had previously been allowed for sports like boxing.Last year Sport minister Fikile Mbalula gave R10-million to SA amateur boxing in a bid to boost the sport‚ but it could take time before the benefits of that payout are seen.There is one more boxing qualifying tournament after this‚ in Venezuela next month‚ but that is where several professional fighters are expected to try stake their claim for the Olympics‚ which is no longer the sole domain of amateurs. - TMG Digital..