As nationwide lockdown restrictions ease in Level 1, many are looking forward to more sports and entertainment events on the horizon \u2013 albeit with necessary Covid-19 safety regulations in place. Ugu South Coast Tourism (USCT) is excited to use this opportunity to build on its reputation as a key sports\u2019 destination, with Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre in Gamalakhe Township near Port Shepstone the perfect backdrop for such tourist-driven initiatives. And first on the agenda is the upcoming boxing tournament – \u2018KO COVID\u2019 – organised by Lightning Boxing Promotion, Syathaba Boxing Promotion and Uhuru Sport Production (Joint Venture) in partnership with the KZN Department of Sport and Recreation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith our dedicated local organisers, wonderful venues and world-class facilities like Ugu Sports and Leisure Centre \u2013 built for the 2010 World Cup – it\u2019s no surprise that the KZN South Coast has fast become one of the region\u2019s key sports\u2019 tourism destinations,\u201d said CEO of Ugu South Coast Tourism (USCT), Phelisa Mangcu. \u201cWe are looking forward to hosting yet another important tournament that gives us an opportunity to showcase the region\u2019s many offerings, for both sports\u2019 enthusiasts and supporters alike. As the official destination management organisation for the area, USCT keeps all local tourism establishments updated on the latest Covid-19 protocols to ensure visitor safety is prioritised.\u201d<\/p>\n
In December last year, the KZN South Coast was the chosen venue for the local TSA (Tennis South Africa) Seniors Tour, a national tennis contest which is a qualifier for the World Championships. Alongside the established sports\u2019 facilities, the region is renowned for its unmatched natural resources and outdoor venues that have seen it play host to national sporting attractions such as the South Coast Fever MTB & Trail Run Series, Senior Women\u2019s Golf Nationals as well as forming part of the annual Sani2C and joberg2C competitions. Throughout the year, visitors compete in a range of sporting contests at both an amateur and professional level, ranging from cycling, tennis and bowling, through to water-based sports – surfing, stand-up paddling and fishing.<\/p>\n
The upcoming boxing tournament is set to put another notch on the KZN South Coast\u2019s sporting belt, with renowned boxing promoters choosing the region for its top-quality facilities. The tournament is taking place on Sunday, 21 March at Ugu Sport and Leisure Centre in Port Shepstone, with the main bout seeing, Sanele Msimanga from Inchanga, taking on South Africa\u2019s Number 3 boxer, Ripfumela Chikwambane of Gauteng (originally from Limpopo), in a fight for a chance to challenge for the South African title.<\/p>\n
The main supporting bout will be female competitors Mapule Ngubane of Pietermaritzburg, the current South African middleweight champion of Umgungundlovu district and Razel Mohammed, of Nelson Mandela Bay and Port Elizabeth. Local boxer, Phikelelani Dlamini, will also feature in this, his second professional fight, and first fight in Port Shepstone. Also on the bill is WBF All Africa Champion, Sanele Magwaza, who is set to take on Jozini \u2018s Siyabonga Mpngela.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very excited that Ugu District and Ray Nkonyeni Municipality will be hosting this event as it will provide significant support for the sport within the province,\u201d explained Nhlakanipho Gumede of Uhuru Sport Production. \u201cWe hope that, through this tournament, prospective young boxers from the district will get the chance to learn more about the sport and consider it as a profession. And, considering the boxing level of the two headline competitors, this is expected to be a really great fighting spectacle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike Dube, KZN Boxing Provincial Manager, said: \u201cWe, as Boxing South Africa, are grateful to KZN Department of Sport and Recreation for coming on board and fully supporting us during these difficult times. The tournament is dubbed \u2018KO COVID\u2019 because we want to stand in solidarity with those who have lost loved ones, and we applaud the promoters for standing up against this disease which can be fought and won.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dube said that, hosting the tournament in Ugu district is particularly important for him: \u201cWhen I was appointed to this position in November 2020, I promised to take boxing to all the districts of KwaZulu-Natal and now, Ugu is hosting its first professional event. We are determined to host many more. Ugu Leisure Centre is a beautiful facility and we hope it becomes a regular boxing venue.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Boxing South Africa, no spectators will be allowed to attend the event under current Covid-19 regulations.<\/p>\n
To find out more about the KZN South Coast, simply download the free \u2018Explore KZN South Coast\u2019 app or visit www.visitkznsouthcoast.co.za. You can also follow the KZN South Coast on social media – \u2018South Coast Tourism\u2019 on Facebook and YouTube, or @infosouthcoast on Twitter and Instagram.<\/p>\n
As nationwide lockdown restrictions ease in Level 1, many are looking forward to more sports and entertainment events on the horizon \u2013 albeit with necessary Covid-19 safety regulations in place. Ugu South Coast Tourism (USCT) is excited to use this opportunity to build on its reputation as a key sports\u2019 destination, with Ugu Sports and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[171,2799,8538,4415,8812,8811,8539,8809,8810],"class_list":["post-41271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport","tag-boxing","tag-kzn","tag-kzn-south-coast","tag-olivia-jones-communications","tag-phikelelani-dlamini","tag-sanele-magwaza","tag-south-coast","tag-uhuru-sport-production","tag-wbf-all-africa-champion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41271\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}