The Man Who Boxed Apartheid

African National Congress (ANC) leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela in Algeria wearing a khafiya after his release from prison in May 1990., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Rolihlahla Mandela

Dec 10 2013 8:23AM
New Age, South Africa

The man who boxed apartheid

As a world renowned freedom fighter Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was involved in a lengthy battle against apartheid. But as an amateur boxer Mandela fought for one simple reason – to escape the harsh realities of the struggle days.

“I found the rigorous exercise to be an excellent outlet for tension and stress. After a strenuous workout I felt both mentally and physically lighter. It was a way of losing myself in something that was not the struggle. After an evening’s workout I would wake up the next morning feeling strong and refreshed, ready to take up the fight again,” Mandela wrote in his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

Mandela furthered his interest in boxing as a 19-year-old student at Healdtown, a Westleyan college in Fort Beaufort which most Tembu royalty attended. “I did not enjoy the violence of boxing so much as the science of it,” wrote the former amateur heavyweight.Even after making the trek from the Eastern Cape to the city of gold, Mandela pursued his interest in the sport of fisticuffs. In the ’50s he trained at a gym in Orlando, Soweto. One of his most famous boxing pictures depicts Mandela on the roof of a Jozi building during training.

Not even the 27 years that Mandela spent on Robben Island deterred him from resorting to his outlet for stress relief. While behind bars the political prisoner “maintained a physical fitness regimen” until he was released in 1990.

But the rigorous demands of his politics life gradually limited Mandela’s participation in the sport.“I never did any real fighting after I entered politics,” he said in an interview.

But it was probably not entirely politics that prevented Mandela from throwing punches in the paid ranks. As he was to later reveal in an interview with CNN, the former state president harboured no ambitions of upgrading his status as an amateur pugilist.“No, I did not want to be a professional, but (an) amateur,” he said.

He added: “And, of course, our heroes in those days were Joe Louis and people like Joe Walcott. These were our heroes. Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier – those are legends and they are people who also are political because every time I came to the United States of America they gave me a lot of support.“People like Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard were all very good to us.”

Mandela had been an icon and beacon of inspiration for boxers across the seven seas. These include Ali’s daughter, Laila, who met Madiba when she became the first female fighter to headline a boxing card in South Africa five years ago.“He reminds me so much of my own father. He is like family. He is a very humble man,” she said at the time.

Another fighter who derived inspiration from Mandela was Baby Jake Matlala, (who died on Saturday, two days after Madiba).Mandela watched him when he brought the curtain down on his 22-year professional career in March 2002.

After his seventh-round stoppage victory over Juan Herrera, Matlala presented his WBU belt to Mandela.“It was such an honour to have him at ringside. He is a true champion because he knocked out apartheid. For me to have been a champion was because of his sacrifices. My wife and I decided there and then that I present him with my WBU belt. He was so very touched because he didn’t expect it,” Matlala told SportsAge.One of the country’s greatest retired fighters, Dingaan Thobela, met Mandela only a year after his release.

Having been invited to Thobela’s fight against Antonio Rivera, Mandela could not make it due to other commitments but still sneaked into the Protea Gardens Hotel, where the fighter was staying.“It was a special moment for me. After all the hype and what we had heard about him fighting for the country, fighting for freedom, I was very excited,” wrote Thobela in his book, Rose of Soweto.

Former IBF junior featherweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba said Mandela was the wind beneath boxers’ wings.“Mandela played a big role in the lives of South Africans as a politician and an even bigger role in boxers’ lives as a sportsman. Being someone who is respected and recognised, he became proof that a person can make it in life no matter what fight he is up against.”

Mandela the boxer was described by writer Matt Hamilton as giving new meaning to “People’s Champion”.“And maybe, just maybe, he ranks among the most notable boxers of all-time if only for the manner in which he was able to harness and utilise the positive physical and psychological impact the sport had on him for the betterment of his society and the fight against racist tyranny everywhere.”