Boxing at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s ability to host major boxing tournaments received a huge boost on Mandela Day as the boxing club received a brand-new boxing ring.
The ring was promised to the team by CPUT vice-chancellor Prof Chris Nhlapo after meeting with the team in 2022.
In that meeting Nhlapo committed to purchasing the team a tournament size ring so that the squad could continue to train effectively and grow from strength to strength. The ring is believed to be the only tournament size ring owned by an institution of higher education in South Africa.
In April, Team CPUT secured the second place spot in a field of 11 university teams in the USSA competition and the sport continues to grow rapidly at the university.
Nhlapo says the unveiling of the ring on Mandela Day was the conclusion of a promise he made a year ago.
“For all the boxers here, this ring is for you. You have been waiting for this moment for so long. Boxing embodies the essence of Mandela’s philosophy like the ability to rise above adversity. I have no doubt that this ring will see boxing rival rugby in popularity at CPUT,” says Nhlapo.
It saved me
Captain of the team Aphiwe Ntluzwana (24) says he stumbled on boxing when visiting the Bellville campus stadium to watch soccer.
“I saw the team and I started training with him. I just love it, it saved me actually. At university you can sometimes get caught up with drinking and smoking but as a boxer you can’t do anything like that,” he says.
Lauren Kansley, spokesperson for CPUT, says the ring is a welcome addition to what is already a successful boxing programme.
“We hope the inaugural Mandela Day Boxing challenge that we hosted will become a major event in the future. We had boxers from the University of the Western Cape and from the Western Province participate in the tournament. In the future we want more boxers joining the tournament and make it an elite event on the boxing calender,” says Kansley.
According to Kansley many students at the university come from the Eastern Cape where boxing has a huge following.
“Boxing can be a great alternative extramural activity for students and like the VC said, it has the ability to rival rugby in popularity,” says Kansley.
The inaugural Mandela Day Boxing Challenge will be an annual event and started with team CPUT squaring off against neighbour UWC.
