The dismal performance of SA boxers at the African Championships in the Democratic Republic of Congo has again raised questions on whether they are ready to compete at the Olympic qualifiers for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
All three boxers in Kinshasa crashed out at the preliminary stages, with two of them doing so by stoppages.
It was only Eastern Cape representative Masibulele Sigwela who managed to go the distance before bowing out to Mozambican Sigauqua Armando in their 57kg clash.
Cape Town’s Simamkele Damesi (67kg) was knocked out in three rounds by Limagones Hernany from Cape Verde and Johannesburg’s Lara Netshindzamboni (80kg) crashed in the first round against Congolese Odzoua Stanislas.
The bad run mirrored the poor performance at the Commonwealth Games in July when all four boxers were eliminated in the first round.
The SA National Boxing Organisation opted to send boxers to the IBA-run championships in Kinshasa rather than the World Boxing event in Kenya in September.
The decision was taken despite the fact that IBA has been stripped of the rights to organise boxing at the Olympics, with that falling under World Boxing.
Sanabo said the decision to go to Kinshasa was motivated by IBA’s financial assistance.
Regardless of the motive, SA boxers have proved not good enough at international championships, including the Olympics, sparking debate on whether it is worthwhile to send them to the qualifiers.
With Sanabo under financial strain, and relying on hand-outs to send its boxers to international championships, it defies logic to honour the Olympic qualifiers after such a poor run.
Admittedly, competing at Olympics is the dream of every boxer, which explains the IOC's decision to keep boxing as part of the codes in Los Angeles.
This is due to the imbedded history the sport enjoys with Olympics since their inception.
But if South Africans are being honest, and if the latest poor run is a yardstick, sending boxers to the qualifiers would be a futile exercise and wasteful expenditure.
While missing out on Los Angeles Games would continue the absence of SA boxing from the Olympics since London 2012, logic dictates that we are far behind in preparations to make a meaningful impact.
It was a similar occurrence when Sanabo failed to send boxers to the Olympic qualifiers in Thailand for the 2024 Paris Games.
On assessing the situation, the body realised that the cons outweighed the pros, though John Masamba was bitterly disappointed as he felt he would have secured a ticket to Paris.
But none of the current crop have come close to what Masamba had achieved going to the qualifiers.
Sanabo must take a decision right now to prepare for the Olympics after Los Angeles, and not bother about going to the 2028 Games.