Former South African lightweight boxing champion Danny Myburgh managed to make one of his life dreams come true last week when he successfully organized the biggest reunion for former boxers in the history of the sport in South Africa.
About 350 former boxers, including several world champions, South African champions and provincial champions, gathered together with other members of the boxing community in Koedoespoort in Pretoria for this remarkable function.
In the street in front of the well-known Bernie’s Joint in Koedoespoort, cars were parked for about a kilometre away when South Africa’s boxing community came together from every province in the country for this function.
Myburgh, known in his boxing days as a fighter from Vryheid in Northern Natal, lives in Pretoria these days. During his career of 32 fights between 1987 and 1994 as a professional boxer, Myburgh was not only South African lightweight champion, but he also fought against Michael Ayers from Britain for the WBC world title in 1993, a battle he unfortunately lost.
He has long dreamed of not only bringing together as many former professional and amateur boxers at one function, but also to form an association through which the boxing community can have a network to stay in touch and support each other in several ways.
The Boxing Legends United organization was eventually founded at Myburgh’s function and he believes boxers will use it as a network to support each other on social and business levels.
The organization will also seek to assist as many emerging young amateur boxers as possible with their boxing careers.
Among the former superstars of South African boxing history who attended the event were men such as world champions Sebastiaan Rothmann, Cassius Baloyi, Jan Bergman, Lehlohonolo Ledwaba and Dingaan Thobela, as well as legends such as Harold Volbrecht, Jimmy Abbott, Bennie Knoetze, Dan Bushney and the brothers Kit and Pat Markotter.
While the boxers signed a very special banner, which will surely become a museum piece in future, the guests socialized till late between the vintage cars and other interesting memorabilia at Bernies Joint as they exchanged boxing stories about the old days.
–rekordeast.co.za
