A resident of Zwavhavhili Village in the Lwamondo area, Maria Sivhaga (24), is not only the pride of Vhembe District, but the Limpopo province as a whole. She is the first professional boxer in the province.

After two solid years of fruitless attempts, Sivhaga was finally admitted as a professional boxer two months ago.

Her training manager, Mr Nthumeni Matumba, said that Maria will prove to her fans that her promotion to the professional ranks was long overdue when she tests her strength against Unathi Myekeni from East London at Emperor’s Palace in Johannesburg next Saturday, August 16.

When asked how much she knows about Myekeni, Sivahaga said that she only saw her opponent once on television and that Myekeni is not a threat to her. She revealed that she was leaving no stone unturned in her preparations for her first professional fight.

Sivhaga’s love of boxing came to light in 1999. At that stage she was a Grade 6 pupil at Luvhaivhai School. She lost only two of her 24 fights as an amateur boxer. She stated that her most memorable fight was against the Eastern Cape-based Amandla Gaxa to whom she lost with a TKO.

When asked whether Sivhaga had a sponsor or not, her training manager, Matumba, mentioned that the search is on for somebody who can give Sivhaga a financial backing. He said that there are a number of businesses who had shown interest to sponsor the boxer since she turned professional, but none of them has signed a contract so far.