The South African National Amateur Boxing Organisation’s (Sanabo) National Cadet and Junior Championships were held in Mbombela this past week, December 12 to 15.

i’langa Mall was where seven of the nine provinces made their way to showcase the best SA has to offer in the amateur boxing ring. Mpumalanga, one of the smaller provinces as far as registered boxers are concerned, shone.

Arion Fraser of the Highlands Boxing Club in Graskop won the gold medal in the cadet boys 50kg weight division, and Venessa Mashaba of the

Daantjie Boxing Club in Pienaar bobbed and weaved her way to silver in the cadet girls 44kg division.

Mpumalanga won one gold, four silver and five bronze medals, as well as the trophy for the best junior bout, involving Shadrack Mbiza of the Doornkop Boxing Club in Nkangala.

Gauteng, KZN and the Western Cape led the way, though, with spectacular championship winning boxers. However, the Eastern Cape were the overall winners of the championships.

The Mpumalanga Boxing Association registered clubs, Nelspruit Boxing Club, Highlands Boxing Club and Daantjie Boxing Club, arranged and organised the Sanabo National Championships on behalf of the host province, Mpumalanga.

“This was a truly remarkable event. Without our local businesses that sponsored the event, the Sanabo National Championships would not
have been a success, and the hard work and dedication that our young boxers put in would not have been rewarded.

“We are certainly looking forward to the national championships next year. “We urge them to back our young boxers in 2024 and onwards, as we have tremendous talent that can be developed into prospective Olympians in the future,” said Lawrence Baird of the Nelspruit Boxing Club.