Like the proverbial cavalry, horse racing is riding to the rescue of troubled professional boxing as it enters a ring for the first time at Turffontein this weekend.
The Racing Association and Phumelela, the gaming company it owns a 30% stake in, are venturing into boxing with a nine-bout development tournament at the Johannesburg track on Sunday afternoon.
Phumelela will offer a "Boxing 5" betting option for shows from next year - building on similar pool betting concepts for rugby and soccer - but another key part of the deal is using the TellyTrack channel on DStv channel 239 to broadcast the bill live.
With their own mobile outside broadcast unit based at Turffontein, they can avoid the normally high costs associated with live transmissions.
The live TV has already helped promotional outfit Unleashed secure two sponsors for the tournament, including Cell C.
"When we grew up, the biggest following in sport was soccer and second was boxing," says Racing Association CEO Larry Wainstein, whose brothers include trainer Rocky and former Transvaal provincial champion Morris.
"But it seems it has gone out the back door."
Boxing, like horse racing and most other codes, has lost crowds, he says, but putting it onto TellyTrack and into Phumelela could tap into an existing fan base, if not grow it.
He is hoping to stage tournaments at least once every six weeks.
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