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A fine piece of boxing memorabilia, but who was the boxer who was originally awarded the belt? Golden Gloves would like to know.
It was Winston Churchill who spoke of Russia as a riddle wrapped in an enigma. Now, local boxing has its own curious riddle after the discovery of a mysterious Old Buck belt by Rodney Berman last month.
Berman, who famously collects memorabilia, was drawn to a fellow collector in Simonstown who claimed he owned the Old Buck belt of former SA champion Gert Steyn. As if to underline its providence, there is an inscription on the belt naming Steyn.
Berman negotiated purchasing it, hoping to hand it over to Steyn.
This is where the mystery deepens because when Berman approached Steyn, he was assured that Steyn’s belt was safely tucked away at home. The belt therefore isn’t his.
Further compounding the mystery is that the belt also has an inscription for the “Supreme SA junior-flyweight champion”, which likely dates the belt to the early 1970s when boxing was unified.
Berman now has a number of friends, Jeff Ellis among them, searching their archives for who the mystery champion might be.
“I was thrilled to come across it and thought it would be a simple matter of ringing Gert up,” said Berman. “Now I’m completely confused and would appreciate any assistance in clearing this up. What I would really love is to identify the rightful owner and hand it over to him at our next tournament at Emperors Palace on March 3.”
If any boxing sleuths out there have any ideas, please post your responses on the website.
January 22, 2012 at 10:01 am, dilo said:
The best way would be to go back to the person you purchased the belt from and ask him were he got it and follow the trace from there. If he cannot prove were he got it from, them you may have to consider the possibility that it is a replica/fake. Also compare to Steyns belt which he has to see if they are similar. This could provide some clues. The other way would be to trace back all the SA champions from that era, black and white and go through there records and the titles they won. It could lead somwer, but the first step would be to authenticate the belt to see if it is real. Who makes the old buck belt and did they make this 1? Who did there engravings? Bsa or whoever was in control of boxing at that time may also hav records of who a supreme title belt was awarded to. Cheers
January 22, 2012 at 2:22 pm, Ron said:
Hi Rodney
This sounds like it is Dexter Dlamini’s belt.
He was the first Supreme junior flyweight champion.
I think he comes from the Port Elizabeth area and would be about 59 years old.
Ron
January 22, 2012 at 2:24 pm, Ron said:
This sounds like the belt awarded to Dexter Dlamini who was the first Supreme junior flyweight champion.
January 22, 2012 at 8:11 pm, Jono B said:
Hi could it be Welcome Nicita Old Buck Belt?
He was a junior flyweight Champion and defended the SA title 3 times.
Fun thing is if you go to Bid or buy Gert Styen belt is on Bid for R3000 can that be true?
January 23, 2012 at 8:17 am, BOXMAN said:
Just ask Ron Jackson, he has supreme knowledge os SA boxing.
January 23, 2012 at 1:05 pm, Basement Boy said:
I get a feeling the belt may belong to Vuyani Nene of the Eastern Cape, and that the seller popped the name Gert Steyn on it in ignorance or to inflate the value.
Magnificent belt, pity Old Buck Gin no longer hand them out.
January 23, 2012 at 1:09 pm, Basement Boy said:
Interesting thing about Nene is he beat Bake Jake on four separate occasions.
January 23, 2012 at 2:38 pm, Rodney Berman said:
Why am I not surprised Ron Jackson had the answer. Thank you.
I do hope Dexter is still with us. If anyone can assist with details, I would be most grateful. Thank you.
January 23, 2012 at 4:21 pm, Duncan said:
What an awsome belt……
So who is this mystery ex champion…..
January 23, 2012 at 4:26 pm, Rodney Berman said:
We will reach out for Dexter, who is apparently on hard times. Will give him option of taking back his belt or Golden Gloves auctioning it & giving him the proceeds.
January 24, 2012 at 10:41 am, JonoB said:
Hi Mr Berman that is why you are the man of Boxing.
That is great
January 24, 2012 at 9:59 pm, Juan said:
Can anyone tell me where to find collectors of memorabilia? I’ve got a Bryan Mitchell world title gold medal and would like to know the value of something like that? Cant find anyone to give me even an estimate?
Thanks
February 06, 2012 at 5:56 pm, gert steyn said:
You are all wrong,those belts were like floating trophies, and belonged to the then boxing board,who only brought them out when a champion defended his title,and only had his name engraved on it.It passed on to the new champion, if and when the title changed hands.I dont have a belt tucked away at home, as is mentioned in one of the letters above. A few years ago, someone also mentioned to me that he saw my belt at some flee market in Parys, which brings me to a question? What happened to all the other belts which were in safe keeping at the offices of B.S.A. Any answers?
February 06, 2012 at 6:15 pm, gert steyn said:
Those belts were issued to every supreme champion after the unification, but only as a floating trophy. The belt that I do have at home, is a miniature that the boxing board gave me long after I retired.