Mbali Don Queen Zantsi, arguably the most accomplished woman boxing promoter in SA, says 20 years later, Boxing SA is still trying to find the missing chord for women to sing praises for the Boxing SA Actof 2001 which gave them permission to box professionally.
Female boxing was officially permitted in SA in 2006, and Zantsi staged the first tournament to feature women on August 10 2007 in Durban.
Asked to reflect on the success achieved in recognising and profiling female boxers thus far, Zantsi said: There is no movement, if you want my honest opinion. There was so much hope when the likes of Noni Tenge, Unathi Myekeni, Gabisile Tshabalala and Bukiwe Nonina won world titles.
That's because the feeling was that their success will encourage other women to join the sport and in that way we would unearth talent that might even represent the country in the Olympics which is the global sporting showpiece.
But this became stagnant because we seemed content as a country with their success. No other female won big after those that I mentioned, and why, because there is talent?