Boxing becomes legal in South Africa – a history
Boxing was illegal in the Transvaal and the rest of South Africa from just before the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902) until a few years after hostilities had ceased.
Prior to 1923 boxing was illegal, but Ludwig Japhet who had a law practice in Johannesburg had a passion for boxing and in 1918, soon after World War 1, he began working on plans to legalise boxing. With the aid of friends he drafted a bill and persuaded George McAllister the Member of Parliament for Germiston to introduce the bill to Parliament in 1923. At the end of the first day after discussion on the proposed bill it appeared as if all was lost, but that night a young girl was raped and her escort beaten up.
Japhet later said he believed that the report of the rape in the next day’s Cape Argus influenced the decision. John X. Merriman joined the debate in favour of boxing and it was soon agreed that if the girl’s escort had some boxing knowledge he might have been able to protect her.
The opposition fell away and the act that legalised boxing was promulgated. It is, after amendments from time to time, still in force. Year’s later boxing would play a leading role in the struggle against “apartheid”.
Since the early days very few blacks, as opposed to Indians and people of mixed descent, took to the ring seriously, but the situation changed drastically in the years just after World War ll. Black boxers began to dominate the game while Indian and coloured champions became a rarity.
The first recorded non-European professional tournament in the history of Transvaal boxing was held at the Bantu Men’s Social Centre in Johannesburg on March 13, 1948 under the auspices of the Transvaal Association for Non-European Professional Boxing. Europeans, except for press representatives and officials were not allowed in the hall. The Bantu Men’s Social Centre (BMSC) situated at the bottom end of Eloff Street in Johannesburg opened in 1924 with the idea of having a cultural centre where the city’s black men could take part in educational, cultural and athletic activities. Among the officials were Tiny Dean, Willie Smith, Roger Martin and Peter Murrell. The program was recorded by the South African Broadcasting Corporation and broadcast on radio the next day at 9.45am.
But, the colour bar was hanging over their heads like the sword of Damocles. Up to 1973 interracial fights within the country’s borders were non-existent. In the meantime Pierre Fourie’s steady climb to the top in the light heavyweight division inspired thoughts of a world title fight between him and Bob Foster, the world champion and an American black, in Johannesburg.
These thoughts coincided with Dr. Piet Koornhof’s appointment as Minister of Sport in 1972. He was both sympathetic and enthusiastic that the fight should take place in South Africa. Meanwhile arrangements were being made for Foster to defend his title against Fourie in Albuquerque. Fourie proved to be such a worthy contender, that a return bout became an extremely attractive financial proposition. Foster was guaranteed a record purse for a light heavyweight, namely $200 000.
The fight took place in Johannesburg on December 1, 1973. The implication of this fight was that a breakthrough had been made to remove all racial discrimination in professional boxing in South Africa. Just like President Paul Kruger of the Transvaal Republic had altered the law, although only temporarily, to ensure that the Bendoff-Couper fight would take place, Premier John Vorster amended the Boxing and Wrestling Control Act of 1954 in November 1973.
Although interracial boxing was still prohibited in South Africa, Proclamation R2173 was significant because it allowed the Minister to approve any departure from some or all of the provisions of this regulation in the case of a world title bout, or an internationally recognised final eliminating contest for a world title, or a tournament which complied with the requirements of a South African multi-national tournament and in which South African boxers participated who were registered with the recognised National Boxing Control Board.
This allowed the Minister of Sport and Recreation to introduce black and white contact to professional boxing, albeit at a restricted level.
The return fight with Bob Foster will always remain a landmark in South African sports history. For the first time since professional boxing was placed under legal control in 1923, a white and black man met in the ring in front of a racially mixed audience of 37474 people.
Pierre Fourie’s influence spread far beyond the boxing ring. His fight with Foster in Johannesburg was really a test run for integrated sport. It is not an exaggeration to say that the clock would have been turned back years had it resulted in the racial disturbances that had been predicted at the time. Instead firm foundations were laid for racially mixed boxing in front of a mixed-race audience by the professionalism and business-like approach of the two contestants.
Together with soccer, rugby and track and field athletics, boxing became a protagonist in dismantling “apartheid”. Mixed bouts between South Africans were legalised in 1977, but it was not until two years later that the last vestiges of the colour bar disappeared when the system of white, black and supreme titles were mercifully done away with.
Other important milestone was the first multi-national tournament promoted by Maurice Toweel at the Rand Stadium, Johannesburg on August 17, 1974 when Pierre Fourie fought Tom Bogs, Kokkie Olivier vs Roger Zami, Elijah Makhatini vs Juarez de Lima and Norman Sekgapane vs Jorgen Hansen.
On August 9, 1975 Gil Clancy became the first white man to be permitted to second a black man at a black tournament in South Africa when former world champion Emile Griffith fought Elijah Makhathini at the Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg.
The first two multiracial South African title fights were held at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg on November 27, 1976 with Gerrie Coetzee and Elijah ‘Tap Tap’ Makhathini becoming the new undisputed champions. The White middleweight titleholder Jan Kies was stopped in three by Makhathini and the Black heavyweight title holder, James Mathato was knocked out in the seventh round by Coetzee.
Ever since then boxing was liberated from institutional racial discrimination, not just at competition level but also at controlling level. In 1980 the WBA heavyweight title fight between John Tate and Gerrie Coetzee in Pretoria had further implications. Firstly, commercial sponsorship became a vital factor in South African boxing. A crowd of 77530 produced a live gate of $2 819 996. To that still had to be added television income. Suddenly, professional boxing in South Africa was transformed into a major business undertaking. Secondly, this time national authorities, unlike their predecessors, encouraged the new racial integration in sport.
The 1970’s and the 1980’s can really be described as golden decades for boxing. With Brian Mitchell (WBA and IBF), Welcome Ncita (IBF) and Dingaan Thobela (WBO), ironically a white and two black boxers, world champions in the junior lightweight, junior featherweight and lightweight divisions respectively.
Whilst great achievements have been taking place within the ring, the social chain reaction outside it has been perhaps even more significant. Human relations got off to a good start and fighters no longer judged their opponents according to the colour of their skin. Boxing heroes were more tolerant of one another perhaps than the rest of society. A common feature of black and white boxers in South Africa is their deep religious conviction.
Gone were the days when side-stakes were provided by the mining magnates of emergent Johannesburg alone. Having scored a political breakthrough, blacks became the social, but also the financial beneficiaries of the new era.
Large companies vied with one another to provide sponsorship, as boxing was now the number one individual sport in black townships. Since 1977 boxers keenly competed for the coveted Old Buck Belts, awarded to all national champions.
The Undisputed 