Sport Matters

Heavyweight kings. . . Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko celebrate another victory. A fierce left hook ended it in the fifth round. Despite the clinical finish and the thunderous punch, the news went largely unnoticed. The event was heavyworld champion Wladimir Klitschko defending his four championship belts.  The event took place on Saturday in Hamburg, Germany. And how did the heavyweight title fight end up being a brief in the newspapers, and even crucially, non-event on radio, is quite astonishing. What happened to the days when the heavyweight championship was top billing for weeks ahead of the date, and big news on the fight weekend until the Monday. On Monday November 17, my paper Sowetan did not carry an article on the event. The Times had it as the shortest brief in a column of four briefs.  So what happened to the biggest slam of not just boxing but world sport as a whole? This is the station that made Muhammad Ali a legend that he is; where would he be had he been th

Handover. . . Black Aces goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane, left, seems to be receiving a happy endorsement from late SA and Orlando Pirates goalie Senzo Meyiwa. Both are former national under-20 keepers Today Bafana Bafana will try to walk the path back to normalcy as coach Shakes Mashaba names his new squad post the death and burial of captain and No1 keeper Senzo Meyiwa.  Needless to say, all eyes will be focused on the new developments in the two positions Meyiwa had brilliantly held up in the four matches which marked Mashaba's return as national coach.  The shrewd Mashaba has sprung surprise on his team selection, including the naming of Meyiwa as captain as well as giving then 17 year old Rivaldo Coetzee senior caps. But what has been clear with Mashaba's choices is that he is guided by the players' form and experiences during their time in the South African under-20 team. This is where he has marked himself clearly different from his predecessors, who were hoodw