Fort Hare boxing sensation Asemahle Sotwili is primed for another bumper year in the ring. The 19-year-old LLB student started her second year at UFH as a multiple gold medallist and national representative.
She most recently added the University Sports South Africa 52kg division title to her ever-growing list of accolades following a demolition job on her opponents in December.
Sotwili hails from Mdantsane, which is widely considered a breeding ground for world champion South African fighters. These include the likes of Vuyani Bungu, Welcome Ncita, Hawk Makepula and Noni “She Bee Stingin” Tenge.
It was here that the young Wongalethu High School learner joined a gym and started making an impact with her glovework. Her coach, Vuyani Boqwana, recognised that the diminutive pugilist could go far in the sport with the right guidance.
Her first major fight had been against a fellow gym member in 2020, which see recalled as a baptism of fire.
“It was tough because she was strong and more experienced,” Sotwili said.
Undeterred and inspired by Tenge’s achievements, which saw the latter become South Africa’s premier boxer, she continued to pound the heavy bag in training.
She improved rapidly and caught the attention of the Eastern Cape boxing community when she KO’d all her opponents at a tournament in Mthatha.
These performances saw her being called up to the junior provincial squad for the nationals, where she continued swinging away at her peers to win selection to the junior SA team for the Region 5 Games in Malawi.
In one especially memorable bout in the capital Lilongwe, the then 17-year-old pummelled her Mozambican opponent to such an extent that the fight had to be stopped before the first bell.
In 2024, she won the gold medal at the Sanabo National Boxing Championships to book a spot in the national team for a tournament in Mozambique, which was postponed to this year.
Sotwili said she loved being in the ring and everything else about the sport.
“Boxing helps me learn skills and overcome fears. It also improves my fitness and helps me think differently.”
Although her path in the sport was largely set out prior to her tertiary studies, she enjoys the fact that Fort Hare’s boxing programme emphasises being fighting fit in the lecture hall, too.
And, of course, having an experienced hand like fellow SA representative Vuyolwethu Dila in their ranks has proved invaluable.
“She motivates me to do better,” Sotwili admitted.
