Boxing South Africa (BSA) has acted swiftly by cancelling all tournaments that had already been sanctioned due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“The overarching message to all sectors and citizens is that we all need to take urgent and drastic measures to manage the virus, protect the people of this country and reduce the impact of the virus on our society and our economy,” said BSA CEO Tsholofelo Lejaka in a statement.
“As part of South Africa’s integrated and coordinated disaster management mechanism to prevent and reduce the outbreak of this virus, several measures were announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“We therefore kindly request you to take note of these implications all sanctioned tournaments are, with immediate effect, cancelled,” noted Lejaka.
The tournaments are:
(a) Golden Gloves tournament set for tomorrow (Sat) at Emperors Palace, Johannesburg.
(b) TLB Promotions tournament at Riviera on the Vaal, Free State (March 28)
(c) Tono Promotions tournament scheduled for April 5 at Umfolozi Casino, KwaZulu-Natal
(d) DMZ Sitobe tournament set for tomorrow at Chatsworth Youth Centre, KZN.
(e) Insane Promotions tournament at Hope Street Hall, Cape Town (April 18).
Golden Gloves tournament coordinator Jeff Ellis said, “These are hard times where we must not hold hands. But we must hold and pray for the safety of all our people. Yes, we have postponed our tournament because we must make sure everybody is safe,” he confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Nevada State Athletic Commission held an emergency meeting at the weekend to address the coronavirus outbreak and voted to suspend all sporting related to boxing matches and mixed martial arts until March 25.
WBO president Francisco Valcarcel said in a statement: “The serious situation that the world is facing due to the terrible coronavirus pandemic forces us to postpone all our activities.”
California has also suspended all combat sporting events.
