Durban - The KwaZulu-Natal female boxer who was hospitalised after a knockout in the ring has died.
In a statement, sports minister Fikile Mbalula said Phindile Mwelase, 31, had succumbed to her injuries after being in a coma for two weeks.
According to Boxing SA, Mwelase was initially admitted to the Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville, Pretoria, before being transferred to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital for surgery to stop bleeding in her brain.
Mwelase had been pitted against Liz Butler in a light-middleweight boxing bout on October 10.
Mwelase “slumped to the canvas” at the beginning of the sixth of an eight-round bout.
This was her fifth professional fight. She had lost four and drawn one, according to Boxing SA.
“She was a talented and spirited boxer, who walked into my gym with sass and eyes as shiny as her chiskop (shaven head),” said George Khosi, owner of George Khosi’s Hillbrow Boxing Club.
That was where Mwelase first trained when she arrived in Johannesburg in 2009.
She started boxing in Ladysmith two years earlier.
“We called her Zulu Girl, because of her attitude and confidence,” said Khosi.
The trainer said Mwelase’s death had saddened him deeply.
“There are not a lot of women boxers in the country but in my gym there are.
“I take them all as my children so Phindile’s passing is like losing my own flesh and blood,” he said.
Mwelase had left Khosi’s gym in 2012 because of issues over a heavy training schedule.
“We did not go easy on them,” said Khosi.
She trained under Stanley Ndlovu. He was still her trainer when she died.
Two days after the boxing bout which left her with brain injuries, Ndlovu was also hospitalised after being involved in a road crash
Although Mwelase had turned professional in Johannesburg, KZN Professional Boxing Federation president Thulani Magudulela said they would attend her funeral, planned for her hometown of Ladysmith at the weekend.
Speaking to the Daily News this morning, Magudulela said they were deeply saddened by Mwelase’s death and the loss of yet another promising female boxer.
Daily News