Boxing SA’s board wants to establish direct links with overseas boxing associations and ease the monopolies enjoyed by local promoters.

“I know that many of the agreements and relations between a number of the most prominent South African promoters are of a traditional nature and we are not attempting to block long-standing relationships,” chairman Ngconde Balfour told reporters after the BSA’s third meeting in Boksburg on Friday.

  “But at the same we feel that if organisations like the IBF, WBC, IBO, WBA, WBF, WBO and others deal directly with BSA it would be in the best interests of South African boxing as a whole.”   He said the board had adopted a five-year strategic plan running from 2012 to 2017 to restructure South African boxing.

  The exercise could be compared to the transformation of an ugly duckling into what he hoped would be an eye-catching swan, Balfour said.

  “We at the BSA aim to do all the under-water work to achieve the kind of favourable impression that South African boxing enjoyed in the past,” he said.

  “The welfare of the boxers is in the centre of the five-year plan, and we will do everything to ensure that they and all the other stakeholders involved receive a fair deal.”   Balfour said negotiations with the SABC were at an advanced and ongoing stage, in addition to those with all other media and television organisations.

  “It is essential that boxing receives full exposure in our plan to revive the sport. This can only be done with the co-operation of the electronic and written media.”  Balfour said the board had put in place various committees to ensure to ensure an effective administration.

  These were an audit committee, a management committee, a sanctioning and approval committee, a ratings committee and a medical commission.

  “In this way, matters like the sanctioning of tournaments, rankings, disciplinary actions and the suitability of fights involving both local and overseas fighters will be scrutinised and attended.”   Board members would also visit all the provincial associations in South Africa to explain its plans and proposals, Balfour said.