The SA Female Welterweight champion, Raider "The Earthquake" Muleba, is struggling to make ends meet, even though she is holding the national championship belt. The Tshifudi-based boxer said earlier this week that life was very hard for professional boxers who did not have sponsorships.
Muleba complained that boxing promoters do not remunerate female boxers like they do with male boxers, and female professional boxers are scarce in the country, so getting fights is very difficult at the moment.
"Even when we get fights, promoters pay us peanuts. At the moment, I don't even have enough training tracksuits. Sometimes I train with my formal clothes. I sometimes miss going to the gym because of [a lack of] transport fare. I even think of hanging up my boxing gloves and looking for another job to sustain myself," she said.
Muleba is calling on the corporate world and the government to help her with a sponsorship to be able to train hard to defend her title. "We don't even have a boxing gym in the Thulamela Municipality. We only enter a boxing ring when we participate in professional boxing tournaments. We train in halls with no boxing facilities, except boxing gloves and a punching bag. The situation is very bad," she said.
Those who would like to help can contact Muleba directly on 072 028 9136.