Money is the reason Oteng left Boxing
Sport
The resignation of the prince of the ring, Oteng Oteng which has devastated many in the sports fraternity is believed to be due to meagre pay in the sport, and not ‘family commitments’ as the boxer stated.
Oteng’s boxing mentors and former national team pugilists, Master Luza and France Mabiletsa, argue that boxing’s failure to reward excellence has everything to do with this resignation. Oteng’s year-plus hibernation from the ring sport owing to ‘academic commitment’ has always hinted that his return prospects to boxing were gloomy. In fact, Luza and Mabiletsa maintain that it was a matter of time before the 2012 Olympian broke the silence as he is now opening a new chapter of his life.
Weekendsport has established that the pugilist set the record straight last year December at his club (Tsholofelo Boxing Club) meeting that he would be quitting the sport. “It is true I did that. I have family commitments to focus on,” said Oteng. He further stated; “Everyone has targets and objectives, so I have accomplished them which included competing at all the major games of which I did, from now on I will be helping my club though it’s not clear where, but I would like to do coaching.”
Interestingly, for Oteng, who for the whole duration of the Monday afternoon interview excellently maintained his jejune explanation of ‘family commitments’, it appears there is more behind this submission- money. The man who first introduced “Terrible OT” to the sport in 2005 back at Nanogang Junior, Luza, is convinced that the boxer resigned because ‘boxing doesn’t reward excellence’.
“Boxing has no money or incentives like athletics for example, so after you compete at the Olympics there is nothing more really that would push you to continue,” Luza lamented. “The sport should be more attractive to compete in as others, by having a league similar to the Diamond league in athletics. Most importantly, Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) and Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) should have incentives like monthly salaries for national heroes which will be a long term initiative that could tame the boxers, rather than getting a prize for competing at a major showpiece, from there what’s next?” Luza rhetorically asked.
Another former national team boxer and administrator, Mabiletsa, concurred with Luza. “Remember Oteng is no longer that small boy who used to be ecstatic for competitions, now there is more he ought to do for his survival like working to satisfy his needs and wants.” Oteng who is now an IT graduate from Botho University courtesy of BNSC’s Elite Scholarship Funding is busy with his new job, and to a certain extent, his ‘family commitments’ reasoning could hold water as he is anticipated to tie the knot next month.
The 27 year old’s resignation will further elongate the streak of boxers who quit and disappeared from the sport at a time a lot was still expected from them. Luza, Khumiso Ikgopoleng, Gilbert Khunwane, Mmoloki Nogeng and Moabi Mothibi (all below 30) are some notables who threw in the towel at a time when the nation was yet to witness more from them. Luza, Ikgopoleng and Khunwane also competed at the Olympics while still in boxing.
“He left us early, we were expecting him to take us to the next Olympics,” SSKB Coach Dirang Thipe posited. Boxing Sport Development Officer (SDO) Healer Modiradilo is also concerned about this resignation. “This is worrisome,” he said, “losing a boxer of Oteng’s calibre is a drawback because we had lots of expectation from him. This further kills our developmental foundation because ‘letlhaku le lesha le agelwa mo go le legologolo’ so from here we are going to start afresh, which kills cohesion,” the concerned Modiradilo said.
During his illustrious career, Oteng terrorized the Zone IV notching gold medals for five consecutive years. He got gold again at the 2011 All Africa Games and competed twice at the Commonwealth Games. His last major competition was the 2012 London Olympics where he lost in the preliminary stage before could not compete at the last Olympics owing to academic constraints. The expectation was that he would feature at the next Olympics in Japan.
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AFRICA’S RECOVERY: Sports as game changer
The year 2022 witnessed unprecedented phenomena. Several Africans- Gotytom Gebreslase, Sharon Lokedi, Victor Kiplangat, Tamarit Tola and many others- swept the World’s marathons records.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting control measures implemented in several countries, led to many high-level sports competitions being cancelled or shelved, the Dakar 2022 Youth Olympic Games was moved to 2026.
Founder and Executive Chairman, African Sports and Creative Institute, Will Mabiakop, says the inability to hold traditional and amateur sports events have had a serious effect on public health overall, including mental health, sparking a revolution whereby athletes began to talk more openly about stress, mental overload and performance anxiety.
“Africa is home to the fastest growing economies before the crisis, no longer on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). COVID-19 deepened interdependence between SDGs, making them harder to achieve, especially SDG 10 (reducing inequality) and SDG 5 (gender equality_ as the pandemic had a disproportionate impact on poorer countries, and heavier burdens (such as care work) fell to women.”
Mabiakop stresses that as policymakers contemplate actions to speed up recovery and build resilience, they must argue that sports and creative businesses should play a central feature in this effort.
“The sports economy worldwide is estimated at 5% of GDP, but only 0.5% in Africa. If exploited, Africa’s sports and creative industries can offer policymakers innovative solutions. Especially, as regards job creation, and providing employment to the 15 million people entering the job market annually.”
HOW CAN THE INDUSTRY DO THIS?
By leveraging the two-for-one concept: past studies shown that a 1% growth in the economy delivers a 2% job increment in this sector (these ratios are calculated using data from 48 African countries and adjusted to the reality of the sports economy in Africa by the authors). There are between 30 and 50 job types, in sports and creative industries, respectively. These jobs do not fade away with the first major shock.
Mabiakop indicated that policymakers can use these industries to tackle multiple crises- jobs, poverty, and climate risks. Sports diplomacy- defined as communication, representation and negotiation in or through the prism of sports- has proven effective in building inclusive and cohesive societies. Moreover, sports and the creative industry can support better mental health and well-being, both important for productivity.
“Policymakers can also be true to the game by leveraging culture and tradition to celebrate identity and reap commercial value in sports, textiles and jewelry. Creative sectors allow deeper connection with culture, are not easily copied and provide great economic potential.”
He said supporting grassroots sports has powerful distributional effects. “Fortunately, technology has made reaching wide audiences easier, generating higher rates of success when talent is discovered.”
However, Mabiakop held that potential pitfalls must be highlighted. “First avoid build it and they will come policies with infrastructures denuded from the rest of the ecosystem. Like the many sports stadiums left largely unused.”
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