Boxing is said to be the loneliest sport in the world, because even if you have more than five sparring partners in the gym, when it comes to the real deal (stepping into the ring to fight), you get in there alone and slug it out with your opponent.
Many believe the only thing that boxers do is to train and fight, and nothing else. But up-and-coming local boxer Mudinda Innocent Maumela from Miluwani village, just a stone's throw away from Thohoyandou, is living proof that boxers are not just fighting machines. They can also excel in other creative careers.
The lanky and always-smiling boxer, who is expected to make his professional boxing debut next year, is also an artist and a sculptor. Under the tutelage of Mr Avhashoni Mainganyi, who is a renowned international artist from the Vhembe District, Maumela is blooming into one of the best sculptors in his own right.
In an exclusive interview after training at the Thohoyandou Arts Centre on Tuesday morning, he said that his motto was to try and be the best in everything he did in life. "Yes, I am a boxer, but I do other things in my spare time. I am an artist and a sculptor. I have sold some my work at home and abroad," he said.
When asked why he was taking such a dangerous sport as boxing seriously when he could make a living as an artist, he said boxing was now in his blood and he could not leave it at the moment. He added that he was still going to make more sculptures and artwork in the future.