Basil Brice tribute tournament in Ottery
December will kick-off with exciting professional and amateur boxing tournaments in Ottery, Wynberg and Philippi.
On December 2, Jackie Brice Boxing Promotions will host a showcase in tribute to the late Basil Brice, at Vibrant Sports, in Ottery, from 5pm.
The Boxing South Africa (BSA) Lifetime Achievement Award recipient was laid to rest last week at the age of 90.
In his youthful years, Brice trained as a professional boxer at Booysens Boxing Club in Johannesburg. In Cape Town he went from being a professional boxer to a renowned coach in the late 90s and early 2000s.
He was known for taking children out of the streets and coaching them. In the early 70s, he was one of the pioneers to introduce boxing as a catalyst for change at Robben Island.
In 1966, Jackie Brice says, his father was his trainer as a young professional. Jackie represented the Western Province, Natal, Namibia and SA in 1976 in Goodwood, before exchanging his fighting gloves for his coaching gloves.
Five years ago, Jackie became a promoter.
Inspired by boxing promoter Rodney Berman’s tribute tournament for Brice, at Emperors Palace, this past Saturday, Jackie said the upcoming development tournament in Ottery, The Clash of The Titans – Tribute to Basil Brice, will showcase 10 exciting bouts.
The fights, sanctioned by BSA, will include the top rated female boxer, Simamkele Tutsheni, the legendary Gerrie “Seer Handjies” Coetzee’s grandson, Dillon Coetzee, and the top-ranked provincial champion, Lwando Mngambi, flexing their arms. It will be one of six boxing installations this year, Jackie promoted, with a production of R700 000.
“It’s important to note that this is a development tournament. We can’t do it without sponsors. We’ve got some great fighters. I am excited. It is a tournament for my dad. It is a tribute to what he has done for boxing, especially in Cape Town. This is something he will be watching from above,” said Jackie Brice.
In the heart of Wynberg, B Boxing Gym will host an eight bout amateur boxing thriller with some of its young, raw boxers, who will take on fighters from neighbouring local gyms in the city. Sanctioned by SANABO, the event’s doors open at 2pm, on Saturday December 2.
On Saturday December 9, in the busy township of Philippi, Future Champs youth boxing, in conjunction with SABOF will present Drama on The Plaza, an open boxing tournament at the Philippi Plaza, from 11am (boxers weigh-in at 8.30am).
One of the young and unbeaten, promising professional bantamweight boxers in the city, Asavela Peter, is a prospect of the Future Champs non-profit organisation in Philippi.
He trains in the shipping containers that were turned into a boxing gym at the back of the plaza.
