Filipino boxers Rey Loreto and Jetly Purisima were engaged by the South African promoters to fight in their country last March 22.
Loreto fought former South African IBO light flyweight champion Nkosinathi Joyi at the Mdantsane Indoor Centre, Mdantsane, Eastern Cape, South Africa and won via TKO in the first round while Purisima lost in the supporting bout.
Loreto was defending his IBO Junior flyweight title which he won over Joyi in Monaco last year via KO in the third round. Read more:
The two Filipino boxers have since returned to the Philippines after the promoters assured them that they will get their prize money last March 25 via wire transfer, but the South African lead promoter failed to send the prize money until today.
Former South Cotabato Governor and head of Sonshine Promotions Manny Piñol made an appeal to South African authorities in behalf of Loreto and Purisima in an open letter that presumably landed on the desk of the South African president.
Thabiso Mosia, a South African journalist, had a live interview with Piñol Tuesday from Johannesburg to shed light on the issue. It appears it has become a national scandal in South Africa, prompting the president to order an investigation.
“The Office of President Jacob Zuma has confirmed that they have read your letter and that they are undertaking actions,” Mosia told Gov. Piñol during the live radio interview.
The prize money for the two Filipino boxers (about $45,000) isn’t a big amount but for Loreto and Purisima it could mean a lot to their families.
Hopefully the intervention from the office of the South African president will lead to the immediate resolution of the problem which has already dragged on for over two months.
President Zuma should be praised for his action to take up the cudgels for the two Filipinos who are only doing their jobs as professional boxers to support their families back home.
