Cape Town — One of world boxing's all-time greats, Floyd Mayweather, will make a return visit to South Africa in December.
The Sandton-based organisation World Wide Scholarships (WWS) have announced that the retired boxing legend, Mayweather, who last visited South Africa in 2014, will arrive in the country in December.
WWS, in partnership with several other organisations including Mayweather's promotion companies, will host a 'Captains of Industry Knockout Dinner' on December 12. Mayweather will attend as the guest of honour.
A percentage of funds raised from the gala dinner will be used for a development fund that will train and develop top talent from Africa towards scholarship opportunities worldwide.
Mayweather is scheduled to make a number of public appearances, including attending a boxing tournament on Sunday, December 11 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, in Durban.
Munya Maraire, the CEO of WWS, said: “We are honoured to host a legend like Floyd Mayweather Jr, who is an inspiration for all sporting youngsters and boxing lovers alike.
"The sad reality is that Africa is a continent filled with natural talent just waiting to be discovered and moulded into champions. However, we need the resources to train and develop the God-given talents of these youngsters to help them achieve their full potential.
"Due to a lack of resources and financial support, Africa can also be a place where talent is born to be undiscovered. Being part of empowering Africa’s talent through initiatives such as Floyd’s visit to South Africa goes a long way in helping our youth achieve greatness.
"We will also be looking at creating a strategic pathway for young African boxers to gain opportunities worldwide through this initiative.”
Mayweather's last visit to South Africa raised controversy which raged in Parliament long after the legend had returned home. The then Minister of Sport and Recreation Fikile Mbalula was accused of spending state money on Mayweather’s trip.
After much debate, it came to light that although state money was spent directly on Mayweather’s trip, Mbalula's Department of Sport and Recreation had forked out over R400 000 for advertisements and marketing of events during Mayweather’s trip.
On his last visit, Mayweather visited the famous Dube Boxing Gym in Soweto, which famously produced great boxers such as four-time world champion Jacob 'Baby Jake' Matlala and Anthony 'Blue Jaguar’ Morodi.
IOL Sport