Limpopo's former national female lightweight boxing champion Raider "The Earthquake" Muleba is back in action after being out in the boxing wilderness since 1 September 2023, when she lost her national title to Bonita van Jaarsveld on points at the Vodacom Dome in Midrand.
The hard-punching Muleba had earlier made history when she became the first female boxer from Limpopo to win a national boxing championship title. She beat the tough-as-nails former female lightweight champion, Kholosa Ndobayeni, at the Nkowankowa Sports Grounds in Tzaneen on 13 November 2022. Muleba also became the first boxer from the A-to-Z boxing stable to win a national boxing title.
Speaking to Limpopo Mirror last Friday, Muleba said that she had been devastated by the way she had lost her title and had decided to hang up her boxing gloves. "Before I lost the title, promoters used to postpone fights at the last minute, leaving me high and dry with debts, and after losing the title in that fashion, I decided to quit the sport," she said. She said she had also found a learnership and had to concentrate on something else. "But I missed boxing a lot and had to approach my coach to tell him I have reconsidered my decision. I am now back and hope that I will get another opportunity to fight for the national title soon," she said.
When she lost her title to Bonita van Jaarsveld last year, her trainer-manager, Mr John "Smoking Joe" Nemakonde, was furious, saying Raider had won every single round except one but had been robbed by the judges. "This was daylight robbery. She was on top of her game for the whole fight, and I was surprised when the judges came to such a decision. I am not a cry-baby, but this is unacceptable," he said then.
The no-nonsense trainer said he was still not happy about the way his fighter had lost her title last year. "We usually rely on our boxing skills as we have talented boxers in our boxing club. We have now realised that by doing that, we are giving judges chances to decide our fate unfairly. We are now going to fight and stop our opponents inside the distance. All I can say now is that Muleba is back to reclaim her national title before the end of this year," he said.