Amateur Boxing in South Africa

A young boxer is given water by his coach during a fight in Soweto. There are many young boys eager to be successful boxers as it provides an escape from a difficult life, but due to the budget constraints of many of these boxing associations, the likelihood of making a successful living out of boxing is very low. © Shaun Swingler

Amateur boxers fight it out at a boxing event organised by the Soweto Boxing Association in township of Soweto in Johannesburg. The township, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, has a proud history of amateur boxing, and has produced many successful boxers in the past, including world champion Jacob "Baby Jake" Matlala. © Shaun Swingler

Ginger Mapasa, who runs the Khayelitsha Boxing Academy, and his assistants mop up water from a leaking ceiling of his training gym in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Amateur boxing is poorly funded in South Africa, and as a result upkeep on training facilities is often difficult to maintain. © Shaun Swingler

Fighters duke it out during a fight organised by the Soweto Boxing Association. © Shaun Swingler

Young boxers train at the Khayelitsha Boxing Academy, run by former professional boxer Ginger Mapasa. Khayelitsha, a township in the port city of Cape Town, is the largest township in the region and people living in the area are affected by many social ills such as poverty, gangsterism and drug abuse. © Shaun Swingler

A young boxer takes a knock at a Maxim Kids Fight Night at the Sea Point Civic Centre in Cape Town. © Shuan Swingler

An amateur boxer speaks to his coach between rounds in a charity fight night at the Sea Point Civic Centre in Cape Town. The event organised by NGO Maxim Kids, founded by Congolese boxing coach Allen Chizungu, focuses on developing youth boxing for children in disadvantaged communities across South Africa. © Shaun Swingler

Young boxers train at the Khayelitsha Boxing Academy, run by former professional boxer Ginger Mapasa. Mapasa maintains that the more time kids spend in the boxing gym, the less contact they will have with social ills in their communities. © Shaun Swingler

Boxers square off in a Maxim Kids Fight Night at the Sea Point Civic Centre in Cape Town. © Shaun Swingler

And the fight is over. Fighters are brought to the middle of the ring and await the verdict of their fight in Soweto, Johannesburg. © Shaun Swingler

In South Africa, amateur boxing has a proud history. It’s produced professional world champions, like Jacob “Baby Jake” Matlala. And it’s given hope to many kids looking for a better future who live in disadvantaged communities, many of which were originally established during apartheid.

In spite of its popularity, amateur boxing in South Africa is struggling to survive. “Fraught with politics and poor funding, boxing gyms are battling to keep their doors open,” says Shaun Swingler, who photographed the gyms between May-July 2015. Given how beloved it is among youth, it’s unfortunate that they’re closing, he says, especially in under-resourced communities “where these gyms are needed the most.” Getting inside the ring “offers an alternative to a path of drug abuse and crime,” says Swingler, who is from South Africa.

The images capture the young boxers training and during fights, and the ambitious atmosphere of the gyms. One of Swingler’s aims with the story is to challenge some of the stereotypical representations of young black men living in South Africa’s poorer neighborhoods, “and to show the positive influence that sport, strong role models, and safe spaces can have on boys and young men.”

The boxing matches bring together spectators from all walks of life in a country dramatically divided by race and politics. The matches also draw guests to communities they normally wouldn’t visit. Swingler remembers observing these phenomena while photographing one particular fight in Cape Town. Organized for charity, it hosted boxers from affluent and established gyms, as well as boxers from less wealthy gyms. The crowd was a mix of people of different races and socioeconomic statuses, “something that is not always seen in South Africa, and particularly in Cape Town. It was wonderful,” says Swingler.

-Sarah Stacke