ESPN to show African boxing in 2022; 12 boxing events planned for the year with one shown on the last Thursday of every month.

by Thinus Ferreira

ESPN (DStv 218 / StarSat 248) will show African boxing in 2022 on the American sports channel, with 12 boxing events during 2022 that are planned and with one boxing event that will be shown on the last Thursday of every month next year.

ESPN plans to African boxing events live on the channel, which will also be shown on broadcast partners with the first African boxing event that will take place in Johannesburg on Thursday 27 January at 19:00.

Each boxing event will include 5 fights per event and two "undercard bouts", with ESPN that also plans to include one "all-female" fight per event to give young female boxers a platform.

Boxing analyses and running commentary will be done on ESPN shows like Sports Center.

"ESPN is known for bringing the most exciting sporting moments to sports fans across the continent and the return of African boxing takes that further," says Kyle De Klerk, director for sports commercial and business at The Walt Disney Company Africa, in a statement.

"Knowing Africa's rich history of developing boxing champions, ESPN will showcase some of our continent's best talent to a global audience which will hopefully give them a platform to progress and challenge for world titles in the near future."

SABC focusing on local South African boxing, tennis and athletics to provide content for SABC Sport as public broadcaster now tries to create its own sporting space without competing against SuperSport.

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African public broadcaster and its new SABC Sport boss Gary Rathbone is focusing on local South African boxing, tennis and athletics as the main sporting codes it wants to revive to provide content for its 24-hour SABC Sport channel as SABC Sport carves out its own sporting space where it doesn't compete with SuperSport.

The Sunday Times reports that Gary Rathbone in an interview with the newspaper said that the SABC is looking to carve out its own sports content space where it doesn't compete with the pay-TV operator MultiChoice and SuperSport.

"I'm targeting boxing, it's a key part of my strategy. I would say it's right at the top of my in-tray of to-do things. We will start building a formidable boxing strategy for the broadcaster that can really make us the home of boxing," Gary Rathbone said in the interview.

"I think the other two sports we have an opportunity for are athletics and tennis."

According to Gary Rathbone the ongoing evolution in technology has made it possible to lower production costs as far as sports content is concerned.

Fox Sports Africa partners with Sun International in a 2-year deal to hold and broadcast a series of pan-African boxing events on Fox Sports.

Fox Sports Africa through Fox Sports and Sun International have decided to partner up in a multiyear agreement - the cost of which was not disclosed - for a series of World Boxing Association (WBA) boxing events that will be staged at Sun International venues throughout South Africa and be broadcast on Fox Sports, available on StarSat and Cell C black.

The partnership will mean that pan-African title fights will be broadcast live on FOX Sports over a 2-year period, with boxers who will compete for various WBA pan-African titles.

The partnership between Fox Sports and Sun International will start with an event at Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom on 27 June with Carnival City that will be next on 20 July.

"For those of us who have been long-term believers in the enormous potential of African boxing, this corporate partnership between two dynamic companies heralds great times ahead for the sport on the continent and for its boxers, says boxer Stan Christodoulou who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York in 2004.

Eugene Boniface, the group manager for content at Sun International says "we see this partnership as a great opportunity to promote boxing in the region and to ensure that the sport regains its former status as one of the continents most loved sports, delivering world revered champions".

Kyle De Klerk, business and commercial director at Fox Sports Africa says "through our Africa boxing events, we are positive about unearthing future world champions whilst profiling the boxers and host locations to a global audience".