Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula accused leftwing editor of Beeld newspaper, Adriaan Basson, of being racist in a Twitter spat.
Mbalula accused Basson of being racist because he assumed that the minister had engaged in corrupt activity just because he is black.
The spat started when Basson asked Mbalula who had paid for his trip to the Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight in Las Vegas.
“Adrian, please note that in the new democratic dispensation a Black man can afford to go to America without using your tax,” Mbalula responded hotly.
He also tweeted that Basson’s “cheap journalism resulted in asking cheap ignorant questions”. It “bordered on “stereotypical assumption [that] all blacks are corrupt,” he added.
Basson defended his questions saying he was only doing his job as a journalist, but blacks on Twitter sided with the minister.
The spat is all the more entertaining as Basson has exhibited a particular fondness for stereotypes himself. He regulary accuses Afrikaners and whites of being “rightwing”, “racist” and “Nazi”.
Floyd Mayweather meets Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night in Las Vegas to decide who is the greatest boxer of their generation.
The betting favourite heading into the most lucrative match in boxing history is a defensive boxer known for winning often boring decisions.
His opponent is a power-punching national hero whose career has been an epic march across boxing’s lighter weight divisions, writing his name into legend through thrilling clashes, which he’s mostly won.
At 47-0, Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr, 38, has rarely been threatened in the ring.
Bookmakers list him at about 2-to-1 over Manny Pacquiao,36, the pride of the Philippines. The left-handed Pacquiao’s exceptional work rate have brought him huge popularity in the Philippines, where he is also an elected congressman.
The line started a bit wider but has narrowed with the approach of Saturday’s fight, which is scheduled to start after 8 pm (0300 Sunday GMT) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Former champion Oscar De La Hoya, who retired in 2008 after losses to both fighters, said in a Los Angeles Times commentary that he has gravitated toward Pacquiao heading into fight week.
De La Hoya called him “a fly you can’t shoo away. He seemed to be throwing thousands of punches at me, and I just couldn’t get him off me.”
Bad-boy Mayweather, is infamous for his ostentatious spending and stripclub-hopping with troubled singer Justin Bieber.
Mayweather’s brash persona has made him the world’s highest-paid sportsman, topping the 2014 Forbes list with $105 million that year. But he lacks a level of respect that money can’t buy.
Mayweather’s personal image is likely irreparable. He remains dogged by a perception of ducking tough fights and cherry-picking vulnerable opponents.
Mexican beer brand Tecate paid more than $5 million to put its logo in the centre of the ring.
US pay-per-view television captures the big money in combat sports, and Saturday’s price is set at an unprecedented $100 per household.
The final purse could be $300 million, with Mayweather taking 60 per cent and Pacquiao 40 per cent, Sports Illustrated reported.
In a country where violent deaths widely go unnoticed, South Africans have reacted with outrage and shock at Corrie Sanders’ murder on the weekend.
The 46-year-old former world heavyweight boxing champion was shot in a restaurant in Brits outside Pretoria on Saturday night and died in hospital eight hours later.
Sanders’ former wife Sunette said that Corrie, who was attending the birthday party of his nephew, was leaning over his daughter to protect her when he was shot.
With 40 murders or more occurring on most days, killings seldom make the national news, but Sanders’ death has sparked widespread condemnation.
More than most other sports in South Africa boxing has crossed racial barriers and southpaw Sanders, who was known as “The Sniper”, was one of the most popular sportpersons in the country.
Although always considered a promising fighter, Sanders was already 37 when he was given a crack at the WBO heavyweight title in 2003 and in a fight described later by Ring magazine as the upset of the year, put down Wladimir Klitschko four times before winning on a TKO in the second round.
Just over a year later he lost to Klitschko’s elder brother Vitali and although he fought a few times after that eighth round TKO, he retired in 2008 after a first round KO against fellow South African Osborne Machimana with a record of 38-4 with 31 knock-out victories.
He then turned his attention to becoming a successful businessman and a three-handicap golfer.
It is a mark of the high esteem with which Sanders was held by South African sportsman that tributes came from many top South African athletes.
Former Bafana Bafana player Mark Fish, who played in the Premier League and the Serie A, expressed his condolences to Sanders’ family. “So sad to hear about the tragic death of SA boxing great and a true gentleman Corrie Sanders.”
Olympic swimming champion Cameron van der Burgh said: “Rest in peace Corrie. A champion of the world,” while former Springbok captain John Smit tweeted: “Just woke up to news of Corrie Sanders having been murdered, what another senseless waste of life in SA. RIP Champion.”
A former captain of the South African cricket side, Pat Symcox said: “Feel sick to the core. Just so damn angry over Corrie’s murder. A helpless feeling and one that wants to scream out,” while another captain of the Proteas Shaun Pollock said: “Tragic news about Corrie Sanders. My thoughts are with his family. RIP.”
Vitaly Klitschko also paid a tribute, saying Sanders had a “dangerous” style of boxing. “Corrie Sanders was the most difficult opponent I ever fought.”
Unlike many other South African boxers who moved to the US to further their careers, Sanders chose to stay in South Africa, saying in an interview a few weeks ago that he never considered leaving.
“I loved this country too much to move to the US like other boxers. It might sound strange, but I felt I had more black fans than white.
“I think the two big sports in the black community are boxing and soccer, and whenever I was out and about, they would stop me and want to chat. That was always very humbling.”
Sanders’ death is the latest in a number of high-profile murders that have shocked South Africa.
In 2005 Sanders’ stable mate Msukisi Sikali, who held the world title in the junior flyweight, flyweight, and super flyweight divisions was stabbed to death as he attempted to fight off a group of muggers.
The father of South African international Doctor Khumalo was killed three years earlier, while reggae star Lucky Dube was murdered in a botched highjacking in 2007.
The boxers’ death will once again ignite discussion in South Africa about the high crime rate and the failure of the government to deal with it, even though they say the statistics show a slight drop.
However, for Sanders’ family, like the relatives of many others killed in senseless crimes, the statistics are little comfort. – DPA
Heavyweight world champion Vitali Klitschko has paid tribute to South African boxer Corrie Sanders who died Sunday after being shot in an armed robbery.
“Corrie Sanders was the most difficult opponent I ever fought,” the 41-year-old World Boxing Council (WBC) champion told Germany’s Sport Bild Plus.
Sanders beat Vitali’s younger brother, Wladimir, by technical knock-out in Hanover, Germany in 2003 when he stopped the Ukrainian in the second round in a major upset to win the WBO heavyweight title.
He fought Vitali Klitschko a year later in Los Angeles for the vacant WBC heavyweight title, but lost by a technical knock-out in the eighth round.
“Corrie was fast, could give and take a punch. His style was very dangerous and did not suit me. I was very pleased to be able to win this fight,” Vitali Klitschko said.
The Klitschko brothers expressed condolences on their Facebook page Sunday after hearing of Sanders’ death.
“We were shocked to learn of the sudden death of Corrie Sanders and we want to express our sincere condolences to his family,” they said.
“We will remember Corrie as a great person both inside and outside the ring. He was a great fighter with a big heart who always positively represented the sport of boxing.”
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Sanders, 46, was shot in the stomach and hand while attending a family celebration at a restaurant at Brit near Pretoria on Saturday evening. He was taken to hospital where he died early Sunday.
South African news reports Monday said Sanders had been at his nephew Michael’s 21st birthday party at the Thatch Haven Restaurant when four armed men stormed in randomly shooting.
According to SAPA news agency, the former boxing champion was at the entrance to the venue, making his way to the buffet, when the shooting started.
Eyewitnesses said Sanders had told his daughter Marinic, 15, to get down and play dead and was covering his daughter when he was shot.
Police brigadier Thulani Ngubane told South African news media a search was continuing for the gunmen in a murder inquiry. – Sapa
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Corrie Sanders died in Kalafong Hospital on Sunday after being shot in a restaurant in Brits, North West police said.
The boxer was celebrating the birthday of his daughter when three armed men arrived in the restaurant and shot randomly on Saturday night, Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.
Sanders, 46, was shot in the hand and stomach.
Ngubane said it appeared that gunmen went to the restaurant with the aim to rob it.
“They shot randomly and took a cellphone of the daughter who was turning 21 years and they also took a bag of another patron in the premises,” he said.
No arrests have been made but police were investigating a murder case.
The former boxer was celebrating his daughter’s 21st birthday when three armed black men arrived at the restaurant and started randomly shooting on Saturday night, Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.
Sanders, 46, was shot in the hand and stomach.
Sanders, nicknamed ‘The Sniper’ in his fighting days, was one of South Africa’s most successful boxers on the global stage, winning the WBO title and holding his own against some of the most respected boxers in the world.
The heavyweight southpaw, trained by Harold Volbrecht, fought 46 times in his career, losing only four bouts.
He got off to a great start as a professional, making a name for himself when he won his first 23 fights on the trot in the early 1990’s before he was stopped in the second round by Nate Tubbs in his first defeat.
Sanders made his first real breakthrough in May 2000, and while he lost to Hasim Rahman in a seventh-round knockout, the South African had dropped the American as early as the first round, proving his ability in the heavyweight ranks.
“I’ve never been hit like that in my life,” said Rahman, who would go on to beat Lennox Lewis the following year for the WBC, IBO and IBF titles.
After considering retirement, and winning a couple more bouts, Sanders accepted a late invitation in March 2003, at the age of 37, to fight Wladimir Klitschko, and he stopped the Unkrainian in the second round to lift the WBO crown.
Having relinquished the title, after Lewis announced his retirement and Sanders struggled to find a worthy opponent, the South African, now the number one challenger for the WBC belt, went up against Klitschko’s older brother, Vitali, and held him off in a gutsy display for eight rounds before he was knocked out.
He retired in 2008, after going down to fellow South African Osborne Machimana in his last contest in the ring, and Sanders, a successful businessman, became a keen golfer after hanging up his gloves.
– Sapa
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