Blue Spider, from Mamelodi West, died last month at the age of 76 after a short illness. He leaves four children.
Blue Spider helped produce well known boxers like Robert Dikobe, the first South African to fight in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); King Kong Ngobese and more.
He was also the first Northern Transvaal non-European Flyweight Champion.
Born on Boxing Day, his family named him Boksie and, when growing up, his love for the sport grew as well.
His son, 47, described his last days as painful and heart-rending.
“He started developing abscess all over his legs. We suspected he had prostate problems because he felt pains when he urinated. The abscess started to develop every day and he couldn’t walk anymore.
“When we took him to the clinic, he was transferred to the hospital but they could not attend to him immediately. We could not wait any longer. We decided to take him to another hospital where tests were done. He was told to fetch the results on December 2. That’s the day he left us."
Pule described his father as a loving, helpful and a kind person and that his death was a great loss to the community.
“My father was very helpful to the community of Mamelodi. He loved being around people. I was very close to him, he was both a friend and a parent to me so I shared a lot of things with him,” he said.
Lerumo Mmalebogo, 74, who worked closely with Blue Spider said he would be remembered for being one of the fastest boxers in the profession.
“I remember Boksie Blue Spider was the fastest boxer I’ve ever seen, he was able to throw eight body punches non-stop, he would give you four on the left and the same on the right without giving you time to hit back. He had very good footwork, I mean he was just the best flyweight champion I’ve ever seen. He was amazing,” he said.
Mmalebogo said Blue Spider was one of the boxers who introduced the sport to Limpopo.
“I remember the Northern Transvaal Association once organised a boxing tournament in Limpopo, in Polokwane, and people there had never seen people boxing before. So we went there and took our boxing ring with us so we could produce boxers. That’s how it was born in Limpopo.”
Mmalebogo opened up about some of the challenges faced but said his friend Blue Spider still managed to be the best. “Because of apartheid we'd drive from here to East London. Arriving there you were tired but had to to fight and come back the same day. Things were difficult Boksie defended his title. We'd driven the whole day, he was late but he still managed to win.”He was also respectful and a good listener.