LeBA mourns Moshoeshoe’s death

Third boxer fatally stabbed in dispute on social events

NTHAKO MAJORO

MASERU – The Lesotho Boxing Association (LeBA) is grieving the death of Mokhachane Moshoeshoe, a hard-hitting local boxer stabbed to death last Saturday. According to LeBA spokesperson, Rethabile Ntiea, the boxer was reportedly killed following a heated altercation with another man at a public bar in Khubetsoana, Berea. Ntiea said Moshoeshoe, who also resides in the area, died right on the spot. The deceased was 30-years-old. He celebrated his last birthday on January 1 this year.

“We are told that he had a quarrel with one of the Khubetsoana boys who stabbed him with a knife and he died right on the spot at one of the entertainment places there on Saturday morning,” said Ntiea in an interview with Public Eye on Monday this week.“This is very hurtful considering the fact that he was very willing to serve boxing as a coach in future, he was about to retire as a competitive boxer soon.”Ntiea said LeBA was also about to engage Moshoeshoe in the development structures in its endeavor to groom and nurture young talent.

“I still remember talking to him recently after he lost one of his national fights because of an arm injury, telling him that’s not the end of his career in boxer. I said to him that it’s time that he took the next step and became a referee judge or a coach,” said Ntiea. But Moshoeshoe was still hopeful he will recover from the injury and bounce back. “He told me he was already considering a new career in coaching if the injury persisted, but was still eyeing a return to the ring as a competitive boxer if he was lucky to recover,” Ntiea said.

The LeBA spokesperson said Moshoeshoe was still hopeful of qualification for the next Olympic Games to be held in Paris, France, in 2024. He had failed to make the cut to the recent Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, England. Moshoeshoe represented Lesotho at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland, and in 2018 in Gold Coast, Australia. He also represented the country at the World Amateur Boxing Championships held in Milan, Italy, in 2009.

“It is indeed a big loss for the local boxing fraternity to lose such a talent,” Ntiea said. Moshoeshoe is the third boxer to be stabbed to death at the height of his career in the country, he dies after Inkululeko Suntele in 2017 and Thandi Ntjona in 2020. Suntele was stabbed to death at C-Point and Ntjona in Tšenola, both in Maseru. Moshoeshoe is survived by his elder brother, Setšabi Moshoeshoe, after their parents died some years ago.