By Mesuli Zifo

Still reeling from the shocking death of one of the country’s bright prospects Anele Makhwelo on Wednesday, South African boxing has been hit by yet another tragedy following the death of boxing trainer Mthuthezeli Nene on Thursday.

Nene died from natural causes at his home in Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape Province which is regarded as the boxing Mecca in South Africa.

Nene died just hours after Makhwelo who passed away after failing to regain consciousness following his brain surgery performed after his SA flyweight title fight against Doctor Ntsele in Bloemfontein last Friday.

At the time of his death Nene, a former prospect himself who retired from the ring for medical reasons in 1996, was the chief trainer of Eastern Cape minimum weight champion Siyabulela Kupiso.

Nene retired from boxing just when his boxing career looked promising, having won the African Boxing Union (ABU) minimum weight title by stopping future national champion Phindile Ngingi in the 12th round in 1995.

By that time he had compiled a 13 fight-record against a single loss to Simpiwe Mfaniso, from which he rebounded to beat future SA champions such as Tamsanqa Sogcwe, Ngingi and Strydom Diphagwe.

Inspired by his uncle Vuyani Nene, an IBF junior bantamweight title challenger (Tko’ed 3 by Robert Quiroga in 1990) who is famous for beating SA boxing hero Jacob Matlala four times before Matlala went on to win two major world titles (WBO titles in the flyweight and junior flyweight divisions) including his stunning ninth round stoppage of Michael Carbajal at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, US in 1997, Nene looked destined for stardom before being forced to quit the game on medical grounds.

Fighting from the southpaw stance like his uncle, Mthuthuzeli was blessed with incredible hand speed and power, scoring five stoppages as he brushed aside the loss to Mfaniso and surge towards a world title following his ABU triumph.

But when he could not fulfil his world title ambition, he transferred his boxing passion to unearthing young talent and grooming it into stars in the crime-stricken township of KwaNobuhle in Uitenhage.

Boxing SA (BSA) manager Mthunzi Mapitiza has described Nene’s death as the low blow for boxing in the Uitenhage area which is currently experiencing boxing dearth.

“Because of lack of boxing action in Uitenhage most youngsters are resorting to criminal activities and Nene was one of the people who ensured that they are always in the gym and went out of his way to seek fights for them in other areas such as East London, Johannesburg, Cape Town to name just a few,” he said.

Mapitiza said the date of the funeral will be announced after consultation with BSA.