Title Boxing South Africa

[Janne Desir]

Leadingthe billing for the boxing, big-punching Palace supporter Richard Riakporhe will get his long-awaited shot at world glory in front of his fellow Eagles, attempting to claim the WBO World Cruiserweight Championship title of Chris Billam-Smith.

One issue that Palace for Life address is the rise of knife crime in the region, with the Foundation having developed a number of projects aimed at tackling the risk factors which can lead to serious youth violence.

In the summer of July 1949, one such tournament featured six matches with boxers hailing mostly from the London area. The competition raised money for two Croydon charities: the Guild of Social Service and the Darby & Joan Club.

The highlight was the South Eastern Area Lightweight Championship bout between Tommy McGovern and George Daly, but the most popular boxer was local man Ron Pudney, who drew his Cruiserweight contest with Jack Taylor.

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David Rajuili is a former WBF African Lightweight Champion that has been a professional boxer for more than ten years. The 33-year-old began his career in 2012 when he made his debut against Moeketsi Makinta in his native country of South Africa.

Despite losing a controversial split-decision against Nisia, the South African boxer is happy with his performance under less-than-ideal circumstances and believes he was unfortunate to not be awarded the victory.

Nisia was offered a rematch but the Dutchman declined several offers. Regardless, Rajuili is confident that he has reestablished himself on the boxing scene and is motivated to build on his impressive performance.

\u201CGrowing up in Southern Africa was an amazing experience. I was privileged enough to live in both worlds, from Soweto to the beautiful hills of the south of Johannesburg. Later along the line, I moved around from Durban to Cape Town. So that alone is a great experience growing up in different parts of the country.\u201D

\u201CI started boxing at the age of 8 years old. I\u2019ll never forget watching Brian Mitchell on TV and I wanted to be like that. A road warrior, a man set to achieve his dreams no matter what, and the next day my boxing journey started and I never looked back.\u201D

\\\"Firstly, winning my first WBF international title in Slovenia, my first title. This was special because I had just come off a loss to the South African veteran fighter Jasper Seroka, who at the time had 30 fights and me just 6. I fought my first 12 rounder and lost but got the offer for the WBF international, so this was amazing.\u201D

\u201CWinning WBF all Africa lightweight title, also a great moment in my life, fighting for my second title in a bigger division. So two WBF titles in 2 divisions has been the highlight and proudest moment.\u201D

\u201CBest fighter I have sparred will have to be Mzonke \u201CRose Of Khayelitsha\u201C . Multiple Boxing champion and had been in the ring with the likes of Marco Antonio Barrera, Malcolm Klassen , Cassius Baloyi and many great fighters in his 52 bouts. So this for me was best sparring in terms of boxing, my boxing IQ. Mzonke was not just my sparring partner but my coach too.\u201D

\u201CWell my reason for been inactive came from when I left South Africa to try conquer the world of boxing. I moved to Germany and tried to box out here , the Covid situation didn\u2019t help much but kept training and believing. And honestly, I had a great coach in Germany but the management and chemistry wasn\u2019t there, which really slowed down my career in the past 3 years. But we live and learn and we keep looking forward.\u201D

\u201CI went there with no coach. My coach at the time pulled out last minute due to personal reasons. I had been training 3 years to make my mark in Europe so I didn\u2019t let his personal reasons stop my dream and goal so I went alone with my wife and daughter.

\u201DI fought a very unskilled fighter in his backyard who made the fight very ugly. I would say I did very well. I had me up by 4 rounds and everyone watching had me up by 2 + points. But, you know, the judges decide everything. Being an away fighter, it\u2019s very hard to get points decisions.

Hey ha, I lost by a split. I been out 3 years, had no coach. Went to the backyard, but put on a great fight. \u201CFight of the year\u201D in Holland and lost by a split. If it wasn\u2019t home advantage or biased decision, I think I would of at least lost by majority or UD.\u201D

\u201CBryan Nisia was contacted by four promoters around Europe for a rematch. Because the fight was so good he turned down every offer. I lost on paper, I won my fans back, got my fighting fire burning inside of me and just proved to myself I\u2019m still a danger man out there. Fighters are scared to stand with me even in their backyard. So it\u2019s left a very great taste and feeling.\u201D

\u201CSome exciting things happening. As I said I might have lost on paper to Bryan but this has opened a lot of interest and opportunities for me. I\u2019m busy now with the final paperwork, visas, medicals to get me to Manchester, England. I have been asked by Sean Krool of Fight Factory to join his fighting stable. End of 2022, I\u2019m hopefully making my long awaited UK debut.\u201D

\u201CFunny, my ringside talk show. Honestly, I never pictured myself doing something like this. I got a message over LinkedIn from Graeme Boyce of Talking Fight and asked, would I like to start my own show on his platform. I never done something like this and thought it\u2019s a new challenge, why not, so my ringside talk show was started.

I have had the honour of interviewing Boxing Hall of Fame 2009 inductee Brian Mitchell and from there it\u2019s been good speaking to world champs, former champs, boxers, male and female, promoters and managers. Mainly around Africa and South Africa, just to give the fighters a voice, a platform to the world.\u201D

IF squash provided the very best field in Manchester, featuring 13 of the world's top 15 men and eight of the top 10 women, table tennis, which originated in England in the 1880s, made its debut in the Games with a huge participation.

Table tennis used to be held as a single sport Commonwealth championship since 1971 with Singapore hosting it last in 2000. Expectedly there were ups and downs, aspirations gained and lost but overall there were enough surprise moments.

Another racquet sport - badminton - attracted entries from 20 nations and even if the event was further endorsement of Asian supremacy, challenge from Europe and Oceania did provide a dent unlike last time in Malaysia when the host country virtually swept the stakes, particularly in the men's section.

With world number one and World squash champion Peter Nicol in the fray along with the in-form World number two Jonathon Power the sport could not have asked for more in terms of class. Similarly the women's section had Australia's powerful Sarah Fitz-Gerald, the World number one and four-times World champion, heading the field and only keen to win her first Commonwealth title. The story of their conquests formed the theme of the squash event at the National Squash Centre.

The progress of Nicol, the defending champion, and Power formed a subject of keen interest. Both had different routes to the quarter-finals. Nicol faced a minor resistance from Anthony Ricketts of Australia, fighting from a 5-8 deficit in the third game, while Power dismissed Pakistan's Mansoor Zaman in 24 minutes to signal his top form. In the semi-finals, Nicol brushed aside the spirited challenge of Canada's Graham Ryding in a match that was replete with thrilling rallies. Ryding had earlier accounted for the world number eight Oon Beng Hee of Malaysia after an opening game loss to register a major upset in the tournament.

Power, however, needed to dig into his experience to suppress the lively English player Lee Beachill. The Canadian lost the first game and then his cool, getting into a heated discussion with the referee. He came back strongly though without being very popular with the referee to take his place in the last four round.

The Aberdeen-born 29-year-old Nicol, who competed as a Scot in Malaysia, represented England this time and perhaps the change augured well. For, in the semi-finals, he beat Australia's David Palmer to avenge an earlier defeat. Palmer, the World number three, is no pushover in contemporary squash but the southpaw Nicol had his measure this time in straight games to set up a title clash with Power. No organiser would have asked for more. Power, earlier, had a touch and go affair with Australian Stewart Boswell, who took the contest to the distance. Power lost the first game and then his cool against the let calls. But the Canadian realised soon the need for composure against the fighter that the World number four was. The stifling heat did not make things easy but Boswell tired faster. From 2-2, Power ensured his victory thereby denying Boswell a birthday gift (the Welshman had turned 24 the previous day).

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