How clinical Klitschkos ended razzmatzz

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 the flyweight champion? I don't mean to insult boxers in the lighter divisions, but the heavyweight propelled professional boxing to zenith heights and gave the sport more excitement and better known sportsmen. Imagine names like Joe "Brown Bomber" Louis, Rocky Marciano, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson and Evander Hollyfield. The latter was essentially an engineered heavyweight because he wasn't getting any love dominating the junior-heavyweight division. So Hollyfield stepped up and got respect.

There were other fine heavyweights such as Sonny Liston, Earnie Shavers and in latter years Lennox Lewis. And in SA we still believe the likes of Leon Spinks, John Tate and Mike Weavers were the real deal though in honest truth they earned some fame just because they were heavyweights and heavyweight fighting was big news.
Then came the Klitschkos -  Vitali and Wladslaw. The Ukrainian pair emerged on the scene with doctorates, an unconventional amour for heavyweight boxing. Both brothers were born in unusual places because of the work of their military officer father during the days of the Soviet Union. Vitali was born July 19 1971 in Belovodsk, Kyrgyzstan, while Wladimir was born in Semy, Kazakhstan, on March 25, 1976. They also grew up in East Germany as their  father was a military attache there for the USSR. 

Vitali was nicknamed Dr Ironfist for the stranglehold he had on the heavyweight title, which returned the second highest knockout rate (87.23%) after Marciano's 87.76%. He holds a PhD in sports science. Vitali, now retired, is the current mayor of Kiev, Ukraine's capital.
Wladimir, or Dr Steelhammer, also holds a PhD in sports science. The Klitschkos are studious, disciplined and hard working, values perhaps inherited from the high ranking military officer their father was. Their clinical approach, which has yielded a total of mere five losses out of  113 wins, speaks volumes about their ability in the ring. Clearly this is untouchable, and therefore killed off any challenge, hype, vibrancy in the heavyweight division. Moreover, the Ukrainians have taken the title from the US and its hype masters.

For the record, Wladimir's fight on Saturday was against IBF's mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev from Bulgaria. He was unbeaten in 20 pro fights before he was sledgehammered in the fifth in the World Arena. 
Wladimir Klitschko is now the longest reigning IBF, WBO & IBO heavyweight champion in history with the most title defenses for those organisations. Overall, he is the second longest reigning heavyweight champion of all time with the second most successful career grand total title defenses,  22. 

With a total of 26 world championship fights, he is just one fight behind Joe Louis' tally of 27 title fights. With stats like these, and big personalities the Klitschkos have, heavyweight boxing perhaps is waiting for their era to pass before the rumble and the razzmatazz offered by boxers from the streets returns.

Bafana hobble back to life after tragedy

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 hoodwinked by celebrated players in top PSL clubs for their selection.

The results had been disastrous for Pitso Mosimane and Gordon Igesund, as their tried and tested "stars" consistently failed when it mattered the most, mostly so in this year's CHAN tournament. This second tier African championship had provided Igesund with a grand opportunity to select a young squad.

SuperSport United's Rowen Williams is strongly favoured to be recalled. Williams is a former national under-20 keeper, and so is the more senior Darren Keet, who was Meyiwa's deputy. The third goalkeeper is the current Amajita (U20) goalie Dumisani Msibi. But I prefer another former Amajita keeper Jackson Mabokgwane to be called. Apart from enjoying phenomenal form currently, as seen with man of the match showing as his club Mpumalanga Black Aces beat Meyiwa-led Orlando Pirates three weeks ago,

Mabokgwane will add more experience and vigour in the goalkeeping department. He's 26, while Belgium-based Keet is 25. Williams and his SuperSport teammate Msibi are still young at 22 and 19 respectively. So one of them should be considered as the third keeper to the more senior Keet and Mabokgwane. This is the explanation Mashaba advanced when explaining why he had chosen Msibi ahead of Williams in previous assignments. He said two keepers should be ready to play, while the third must be a young player who must be around to learn.

No doubt Meyiwa's choice as Bafana captain was brave and worked like a charm, which further cemented Mashaba's plaudits as a keen reader of the game. This time it appears it will be toss-up between defender Tefu Mashamaite and Dean Furman. Mashamaite is already captain at Chiefs, and is widely respected for his clean image and dedication to the game. The same can be said about Furman, whose dogged presence in the midield and defence has helped carry the new-look Bafana to new heights.

Furman has leadership qualities and also knows a lot about being captain, after he was appointed skipper at Oldham Athletic before joining current club Doncaster Rovers in England. In his youth football days Furman captained Glasgow Rangers' under-19, a quality which Mashaba seems to be enthusiastic about when making his crucial team decisions.

It's a wait and see. . .

In command . . . Dean Furman has proven his leadership qualities in Bafana Bafana.  

Rivaldo fairytale was scripted by Ajax and Shakes

Born winner. . . Rivaldo Coetzee, front, celebrates with his Ajax Cape Town U19 teammates after winning the 2013 Engen KO Challenge. He captained the side

Many a Bafana Bafana fan wars either enthralled or shocked by the ease with which young Rivaldo Coetzee took his place in the Bafana defence. We know that area of the team being the territory of big, tough guys, not laaities. So how did Rivaldo came through with flying colours, aged just 17?

Firstly, the lad comes from Kakamas, a place 90 percent of South Africans will die without having set foot there. The tourism town with a history of poverty is mostly known as the rest spot for travellers heading to the Aughrabies Falls, or the thinly populated west coast of South Africa.
Secondly, Rivaldo has two institutions to thank for his history-making debut for Bafana in Congo last Saturday; these are Ajax Cape Town and Shakes Mashaba.  

Rivaldo was moulded by the respected development structures at Ajax. He got used to winning in an organised environment from an early age, winning several titles with Ajax junior and youth squads. In 2012 Mashaba added his influence over him in the national under-17 squad. Rivaldo and his Ajax teammate Ayabulela Magqwaka proved themselves to be quality material under Mashaba. But they also learnt early to deal with bitter dissapointment as Amajimbos fell 5-3 on aggregate to Ghana (December 2012) in their final qualifier for 2013 Africa Under-17 Championships.

The year 2013 was a big year for the unassuming Coetzee. Far from the attention of the South African media, which normally gives youth soccer scant mentioning, the youngster  was achieving great things ahead of his time. In August of that year he captained the Ajax Cape Town under-19 side as they won record six th Engen KO Challenge title.

Rivaldo not only received the trophy on his behalf of his teammates, he only scooped the defender of the tournament and player of the tournament titles for himself. Needless to say,  he was partnered by Magqwaka in defence. By that the pair and some of their under-17 teammates had graduated to the national under-20 with Mashaba. Ironically, Magqwaka captained his club skipper in the Amajita squad.

In December 2013 the pair strongly led Amajita to victory in the Cosafa championship held in Lesotho. Also in December Rivaldo and Magqwaka were registered for Ajax senior team, to play Premier League soccer!
In between the business of trying to find their footing in the Ajax squad, the pair continued with business of helping SA qualify for Under-20 African championship, under their mentor  Mashaba.  

As fate would have it, that match against Cameroon also happened to be the last for Mashaba as the head coach of Amajita, following his appointment to coach Bafana Bafana, the SA senior team.
Mashaba shook the nation with the unthinkable, selecting both Coetzee and Magqwaka to Bafana Bafana. While Magqwaka is still waiting for his chance at senior level, Coetzee on Saturday made his never scripted debut in Congo! His first senior cap made him the youngest player ever to play for Bafana Bafana, beating the old record by Aaron Mokoena, also a defender.

When he ran onto the astro-turf surface at Pointe-Noire, Coetzee's age was 17 years, 11 months and 26 days old. Mokoena was 18 years, two months and 26 days old when he debuted for SA.
That he never looked out of place in his entire 90 minutes on the field, Coetzee simply endorsed his mentor's approach and philosphy. That it felt like "I've been here before" points to the hard work by the coaches at Ajax development structures, as well as the leadership of Mashaba as team manager.

It has never felt this good in a long, long, long  time to be a Bafana Bafana fan. Thanks to the coach and the lads to finally bury the ghost of Pointe-Noire, and for SA soccer to be mentioned with reverence again on the continent.

Now repeat the sweet victory in Congo by slaying he Red Devils once and for all in Polokwane on Wednesday.  

National colours. . . Rivaldo Coetzee has played for SA at under-17, under-20 and senior level. He still has to make his debut for the Olympic team, the under-23 squad

Time to bury the ghost of Pointe-Noire

South African teams do not like travelling to any of the Congos and Bafana Bafana, the senior national team, has a particular phobia for Pointe-Noire, a port in the smaller Congo. Our team team is heading there today, to face the leaders of Group A in the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers on Saturday.

Back in 1997 SA was still inexperienced in international football, after our readmission five years earlier. On that fateful day, 6 April 1997, Bafana experienced their worst acts of intimidation and open hostility in Pointe-Noire (the Black Cape) when  their players were roughed by Congo players and soldiers on the sidelines. The soldiers also ordered SABC TV crew to switch off, while defender Mark Fish bled from military assault.

Because of that fiasco in 1997 the trip to Pointe-Noire has symbolised a journey into the heart of darkness, despite Bafana Bafana traveling back to Congo three times in subsequent. The SA team won two of those matches and drew one. Horror is not a nice picture to have about fellow Africans. I want to believe a lot has changed in the intervening period  because 1997 was not a good year for Congo and its people. In April of that year the political situation was tense and the government soldiers operated with impunity, like a militia group, with the blessings of a highly paranoid President Pascal Lissouba.

On June 5, Lissouba's forces surrounded the Brazzaville compound of his rival Denis Sassou-Nguesso but the latter ordered his own militia, the Cobras, to resist. The exchange of fire would continue until October when Angola troops invaded Brazzaville in favour of Sassou-Nguesso, who installed himself president and is still in power today.

Bafana are a better team since Shakes Mashaba took over three months ago. Judging by the fearless approach Mashaba and his boys showed in Sudan and against Nigeria, the ghost of Pointe-Noire is ready to be buried. But footballwise, it won't be that easy because the Red Devils are also a different team from the days we used to beat. Winds of change have been blowing in recent for Congo football in recent years, as seen by the competence of its champion club Leopards of Dolisie  in CAF competitions. Dolisie is  a  town 110km north-east of Pointe-Noire, on the N1 linking Brazzaville to Pointe-Noire.

Morever, the Devils boast an increased number of foreign-based players including their inspirational captain Prince Oniangue. The Paris-born midfielder scored in each of Congo first two matches in Group A, as the Red Devils beat Nigeria (3-2) and Sudan 2-0.
Even more significant was the appointing of veteran of African football Claude Le Roy to coach the side. The Frenchman is revered for being a disciplinarian who managed to bring the best out of many national teams on the continent, including DR Congo, Cameroon, Senegal and Ghana.

Congo was  ranked 84th in the world when Leroy took over the reigns in December 2013. A string of victories has improved their position to 48, far above 67th ranked South Africa who are rebuilding after a long-term collapse.

It is now up to Bafana to prove that the rankings can mean nothing by slaying the Devils one more time on Saturday. Beef up boys; turn Pointe-Noire into the most pleasant resort ever!

Atlantic coastline at Pointe-Noire, Congo

Unhappy games as Asia chokes on African muscle

New colours. . . . Femi Seun Ogunode was born in Ondo state, Nigeria, but now runs for Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula 

For the past decade some Asian countries, especially on the Arabian Peninsula, had been beefing up their ranks in athletics with talent from Africa. These countries, more so Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, used the power of the petro-dollar to lure gifted athletics from poor African countries and offered them "a better life" in exchange for these athletes forsaking their nationalities.

Kenya and Ethiopia were the biggest targets, given their well-known talent pools in middle distance running. Though the attitude initially was that Africa will not be crippled by the Arabs' poaching, that notion changed in 2003 when Stephen Cherono left for Qatar. Kenya and Africa were shaken because Cherono was among the brightest prospects to come out of this continent at the time. He had already won the 1999 World Youth Champion in the steeplechase and set a world junior record two years later. In 2002 he won the steeplechase gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games - all for Kenya.

Then in 2003 Cherono, aged just 20, moved to Qatar and changed his name to  to Saif Saaeed Shaheen. While some reports said he received up to US$1 million to become a Qatari citizen, while others said it was merely for a monthly stiped of $1,000.

The truth is that after Cherono the exodus to Arabia was heightened, much to Africa's irritation. But as seen in the ongoing Asia Games, the irritation is now affecting other Asia countries, as Africans dominate the track. It is no longer a middle distances thing as Nigeria-born  Nigeria-born Femi Seun Ogunode broke the hearts of Chinese and Japanese runners to claim gold for Qatar and the new Asian 100m record in the Games in Korean city of Incheon.

Similarly, Ethiopian-born Maryam Yusuf Jamal was peerless on Monday claiming the women’s 1500m gold, while the Moroccan-born pair of Mohamad Al-Garni and Rashid Ramzi finished one-two in the men’s race. Al-Garni also claimed the 5000m gold in the games. . . all for Qatar.

 “It’s unfair because they are taller and have a longer stride,” men’s 100 metre silver medallist Su Bingtian lamented after the race. “They are more powerful and athletic. Physically we are at a disadvantage.” 

Made in Africa. . .  Gold medalist, Mohamad Al Garni of Qatar (Morocco-born) is flanked by silver medalist Alemu Bekele Gebre of Bahrain (Ethiopia-born), right, and bronze medalist Albert Kibichii Rop of Bahrain (Kenya-born) at the model ceremony for the men's 5000m race in the Asia Games on September 27 in Incheon, South Korea

Japan’s Kei Takase, who finished third in the 100m, talked of the Africans setting the bar  “higher and higher" in what was supposed to be a regional Olympics for Asian athletes.

But even more shocking is the speed with which imported Africans are allowed to compete as Asians. Earlier this year Nigerian-born Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya became a Bahraini. A few months later she wins the women’s 400m gold in Asia Games.

As disturbing as it may sound, for both continents, there's a school of thought in Asia that the influx of Africans may not necessarily discourage home-grown talent but encourage it to up their game. But as Su Bingtian of China observes, the African imports with "their longer legs" are an unfair advantage. Maybe yes, maybe no.

However, from the African perspective, we have to look hard at our misuse of resources, lack of support for development and rewards for elite athletes. This is where the rot lies, which  makes our sportsmen and women restless and end up belonging to other continents.

Flying the flag. . . Nigerian-born Oluwakemi Mujidat Adekoya became a citizen of Bahrain a few months before winning the women’s 400m gold in Asia Games

SA's unsung heroes in track and field

At his best. . . Cornel Fredericks has done enough to be a contender for 2014 Sportsman of the Year in South Africa.

There was plenty of good for South African athletics in the international arena this year, even though the overriding picture having been that of a country in recess in this great sport.

The good was the emergence of one-lap hurdler Cornel Fredericks being the man to beat in the world in this discipline, having taken the accolades in all major events this year. Apart from the Commonwealth Games gold, Fredericks also grabbed back-to-back titles in the Moroccan city of Marrakech - in the Africa championships in August and in the IAAF Continental Cup last weekend.

Even though he was the only South African athlete to secure a gold medal in an individual event at the two-day competition in north Africa, several other countrymen and woman raised the flag high.
Sunette Viljoen, simply the first lady of SA track and field, threw another silver-winning  in the javelin, just as she did in the Commonwealth Games crown and the African title he won in the Moroccan city last month.

Long-jumper Zarck Visser emerged as a surprise package, given modest distances and places he had been receiving in the past four years. But his first gold medal at world level last week in the Continenental Cup underscored the age-old matra that practice makes perfect. Before 2014, Visser's best effort internationally was the second place at 2012 African championships in Porto Novo, Benin. He achieved that with a modest jump of just 7.98m, but more hard work produced a world class 8.32m, Visser's personal best so far, at the elite Weltklasse meet in Zurich a year later (29 August 2013).

Then came the glorious 2014, which started with Visser winning his third successive SA title during the national championships at Pilditch, Pretoria. On that day, April 11, his performance was roudly lauded by the media as the best of the day, even though his 8.31m jump was still a little shy of the national mark of 8.50m.

He followed that up with a silver at the Commonwealth Games and gold at the Continetal Cup last week.
At 25 Visser is in his prime as a long-jumper, and so far has shown the attitude and form required to overhaul Khotso Mokoena's record. Even more interesting, the two are now training partners. More remarkable is the unforeseen comeback of Mokoena, albeit in triple jump, his second favourite discipline.

Apart from the gold in Glasgow, and silver in Marrakech, Mokoena grabbed also won the long jump contest in the Diamond League series. All this marked a glorious return from injuries-induced layoff for one of SA's favourite sons in sport. The lanky lad from Heidelberg crowned  a magnificent season last Sunday by smashing his own national triple jump record, a 10cm improvement to 17.35m.
"I'm very pleased with the record. I'm also pleased with a second place and I feel truly blessed," a modest Mokoena said in Marrakech.

This trio - Fredericks, Visser and Mokoena - are already way ahead of their peers as early candidates for the sportsman of the year award, despite very little coverage by the local media of the achievements above.
Last but not least, sprinter Wayde van Niekerk also stepped on the podium in Marrakech, after anchoring the African quartet to gold in the men's 4x400m relay final.

At 22, Van Niekerk, a 200m and 400m specialist, represents the future even though his international career has already begun. This year already he's the SA 400m champion, he set the new national record (44.38 sec) over the same distance, and won silver in both the Commonwealth Games and African championships. Unfortunately, his emergence and that of a few other young athletes in South Africa are a small drop in the ocean for a country which used to be a force to be reckoned with in track and field.

The biggest loss, as witnessed in the Commonwealth Games, is the dearth of talent in South Africa in the middle distances spectrum - 800m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, 5000m and 10000m. What makes this picture look bleaker is the absence of any visible plan by the  authorities - from government to the Olympic movement Sascoc - to revive SA's culture of middle distance running.

One can only imagine if such programme was in place, what would have happened for SA in Glasgow and Marrakech. . .

Sadly, the places which used to provide the bulk of running talent in these disciplines are now humstrung by substance abuse, and forbidding social ills which make it hard for girls to even play any sport they wish to play.

Let Bafana revival begin

Brave new world. . . 17-year-old Rivaldo Coetzee is the youngest among several young players new South Africa coach Shakes Mashaba is hoping to rebuild the fortunes of Bafana Bafana 

It's a new brave world for the South African national team after a decade or more of underachieving as new coach Shakes Mashaba begins his new tenure on Friday. 
Playing in Sudan is not the kind of start any new coach with an untested squad would wish for, especially without the benefit of a preparation match in a form of a friendly international. But that's how the game at this level rolls. Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers  is serious business, more so for countries  who wish to be counted among the best football nations.

This is not hard to fathom, if you look at it in these terms: for a country like SA to fail to qualify for the Afcon, then it simply means we have no right to say anything smart about African football. What would qualify us? Before benefiting from hosting the 2013 edition, South Africa had failed to qualify for two consecutive editions - 2010 Angola and 2012 Gabon/Equatorial Guinea. The 2013 tournament marked the changeover  from even numbered years which clashed with World Cup years, to odd numbers; hence 2015 is next on the list.
There's so much hope in Mashaba that he will revive Bafana Bafana. His first squad selection points to the beginning of a new era, something which should have happened under his predecessor Gordon Igesund ahead of the CHAN tournament which South Africa hosted in January this year. In the blog published on February 10, 2014 we asked why Igesund overlooked the success of the national under-20, the obvious base of his future work as Bafana coach? At the time his team had just spectacularly imploded  in the CHAN, which is by many degrees below the Afcon.

In the same blog, headlined "CHAN failure points to SA's lack of development vision", we highlighted Igesund mistake for working without future stars in the form of Ayabulela Magqwaka, 19,Rivaldo Coetzee, 17, the Under-20 kingpins, and some of their teammates.
Mashaba responded in the manner that assured the nation, by calling up the the Ajax Cape Town pair, as well as their junior national teammates such as keeper Dumisani Msibi and midfielder  Nhlakanipho Ntuli.
It is such brevity and foresight that has made Mashaba the most successful coach of the national teams in South Africa. Lest we forget, he had already qualified SA for the 2004 Tunisia Afcon when the SA Football Association fired him weeks ahead of the tournament, just because he refused to yield to his bosses' pressure to select players who were never part of his squad during the qualifiers.

Sudan will provide a formidable challenge to Mashaba and his charges as they start out for 2015 Morocco. But there can never be a lighter challenge in the overall quest for SA football to rise up from the ashes and shine again.
So much weight is being put on the heat factor in Omdurman. But to be successful in Africa, this team will have to overcome the worst there is on their path, including hair-raising rides to places like Congo-Brazzaville later on.

Vasbyt boys, time to rise up and be counted among men.