Ndodana Ncube, the Zimbabwean boxing champion who collapsed after his fight against Lunga Stimela on March 27, has regained consciousness.

Paramedics stabilised him at the Eastdene Community Hall in Middelburg, Mpumalanga – where the fight was staged – before transporting him to the King Nyabela Hospital. From there, he was transferred to Witbank Provincial Hospital, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

Emergency surgery

According to Middelburg Observer, Ncube underwent emergency brain surgery on March 28 after doctors discovered a blood clot in his brain. Medical staff attempted to wake him a day or two after the operation, but he never regained consciousness.

The incident occurred during an international tournament hosted by Ilanga Boxing Promotions, in partnership with the Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation.

Boxing coach Abraham Lubisi today (May 14) said Ncube had opened his eyes and was able to communicate.

He has since been transferred back to the King Nyabela Hospital in Middelburg.

Ncube scored a points victory over Stimela in the super featherweight division.

Eppie Pohl tragedy

Not all boxers have been as fortunate as Ncube.

Then 18 years old, Groblersdal boxer Eppie Pohl lost consciousness after a fight on July 1, 1986, and never regained consciousness. He died in 2010, 24 years later, at the age of 43

His mother, Petra, moved from Groblersdal to Middelburg to be near her son, who was being cared for at the SAVF Home for the Aged in the town.

Former Middelburg Observer editor Leonard Neill once wrote about Pohl: “Eppie Pohl, a leading South African amateur boxer from two decades ago, turned 38 on October 1. But he was totally unaware of the occasion, as he has been off life in general for the past 19 years.

“Pohl collapsed in his corner after a bout during the annual South African Defence Force championship against Durban boxer Gary Ballard in a contest on July 1, 1986. He was taken to a military hospital, where he drifted into a coma.

“That night, when he was pushed on a stretcher into the casualty ward, he opened his eyes for the last time,” said his mother, Petra.

“Five years after the incident, she and her husband, Lukas, were divorced, and she has been living on her own since then. But Petra keeps a daily vigil at her son’s bedside in the Vroue Federasie old age home in Middelburg, where he is under medical care.

“The boxer’s birthday means a great deal to her, she said, and annually, on the first day of October, she meets a group of close friends to commemorate the occasion. She refuses to have the support machine turned off, which would terminate his life.

“I have been trying for all these years to make sense of the fact that he will not die. I believe Eppie can hear me when I speak to him, because his eyes flicker. Then he moves nearer to me when I lie next to him.

“His opponent, Ballard, went to Pohl’s dressing room after the bout and was so distressed by the situation that he refused to continue in the tournament. His points victory in the Pohl contest meant his next fight would be the final.”

Ballard later moved to America and said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times: “I had the guy on the ropes and I was just pounding him. I stepped back and looked at the referee as if to say, ‘Well, are you going to stop the fight?’ But he just looked at me and looked at the other guy, so I kept on punching.

“The bell saved Pohl from even greater punishment, but shortly after weaving his way back to his corner, he lost consciousness and collapsed. Ballard’s next fight was also won by knockout, and the opponent after that was carried off on a stretcher, hooked up to an oxygen machine.”

“I never thought of quitting, but that didn’t stop me from being scared of hurting an opponent. As soon as I hurt a guy, I was scared to really land a knockout punch.”

“The passage of time has healed some of the emotional wounds, but Ballard occasionally still has flashbacks when he knows he has hurt an opponent.”

Other boxing tragedies

South African boxer Jacob Morake died from a brain haemorrhage after being knocked out in the 12th round by Brian Mitchell on November 2, 1985, in an African junior lightweight title fight at Sun City.

Video footage shows how Morake was caught with an overhand right that dropped him on his face in the third round. He stumbled to his feet and moved away from Mitchell.

He dropped to his knees after a barrage of punches in the 11th round.

Mitchell dropped Morake in the final round. Morake continued, but a right cross caught him on the jaw. His head snapped back, and his neck hit the lower rope as he fell.

Morake never regained consciousness. He died at the Eugene Marais Hospital in Pretoria the next day.

Brian Baronet

Former South African boxer Brian Baronet died after being in a coma for three days after he was knocked out by American fighter Kenny Vice in June 1988. Baronet had been declared brain dead at St Augustine’s Hospital in Durban.

Baronet, a junior welterweight, suffered extensive brain damage when Vice knocked him out in the last round of a 10-round fight.

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