Professional boxing’s new sheriff Sifiso Shongwe is a straight shooter

Professional boxing has a new sheriff and he doesn’t like to shoot from the hip. 

Sifiso Shongwe, 39, will ride into office with his new board on December 12, and while there is much work to be done and a damaged reputation to be repaired, he is circumspect about the course of action to take. That is to be decided by the executive, not only himself, he insisted in an interview this week. 

Cleaning up the sport is no mean task. For starters, the board needs to recalibrate after the ad hoc operational standards applied by the outgoing executive which seemingly contravened the Boxing Act and regulations that govern paid fisticuffs. 

To make matters harder, Boxing South Africa (BSA) will have to operate on less cash after a costly failed legal battle against fired CEO Moffat Qithi ended in a settlement, reportedly about R11m. That's more than 50% of the annual government grant that has hovered slightly north of R19m for the past three years. 

Total revenue for the regulator, which employs more than 20 people, was listed at R28.2m for the year ended March 31. The difference was made up by service charges such as licence and sanctioning fees.

Sport minister Zizi Kodwa, who named the new board last week, made it clear there would be no bailout and BSA would need to find corporates to help them.  

Add to the worries the dearth of professional fighters, a direct result of a failing amateur system run by a different organisation.  

The harshest critics of local pugilism may see little difference between the tasks facing Shongwe and his wife Lunga, a pathologist.

But the father of three, no stranger to good corporate governance, says he’s up to the challenge of restoring trust in the administration.

Shongwe gave away nothing about his plans, but when he spoke about his past it was clear he has lofty standards for boxing.  

Shongwe, who has an MBA, understands the sport well, having experienced it as a broadcaster and promoter.

He helped grow Fox Sports Africa, which televised its own boxing productions. After the channel was rebranded ESPN Africa after the buyout by Disney, Shongwe promoted tournaments. 

“People forget we had 12 fully compliant events. People assume that just because there was funding things are easy. No, you have to still comply with the Boxing Act, with the requirements of staging a tournament.”

Boxers’ purses and officials’ payments were made to BSA before the 21-day pre-tournament deadline stipulated by the regulator, with some cash being deposited two months out.

“Because we paid through an international account there was always a seven to 14-day lead time [for the money to clear].”

BSA altered the rules for payments substantially, allowing purse payments to be made at the 11th hour, a move that saw an increasing number of tournaments cancelled or delayed because of lack of funding. 

The outgoing board has also been accepting letters of commitment from government, though it was paid after the tournament date. In some cases BSA provided bridging finance, a service not mentioned in the act. 

Shongwe wouldn't comment on these, but admitted such practices would have to be reviewed by the new board.

He and his executive are walking into a potential minefield, but the incoming chairman has a passion for this brutal, beautiful sport.

“I grew up in a family that loved boxing,” said Shongwe, who was born in Soweto and moved with his family to Ridgeway in the south of Johannesburg.

“We grew up knowing names such as Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. We used to wake up early to watch Mike Tyson.” 

He remembers his first taste of live boxing. “We were living in Soweto. My mom took me there, to a local school, and they had this ring on like a stage.

“I was in awe. I’d never seen guys this big, this muscular, just going at it. I remember this guy with dreadlocks; he knocked out this guy into the ropes, sweat and water everywhere.”

Shongwe was hooked.

His yardstick for success is high and that can only benefit boxing.