Al-Qalam 
By Nabeelah Sheikh
She may be just 54 kg’s but Saafiyah Sonday sure can pack a hefty punch.
The 20-year-old from Pinelands in Cape Town is making waves in the South African boxing world. She recently won silver at the South African National Boxing Organisation’s Youth and Elite National Boxing Championships held in Tzaneen, Limpopo, between 5-8 July.
Sonday’s boxing journey began about four years ago when she took up the sport for the first time, motivated by her brother.
“My brother started boxing a year before me and he kind of influenced me to join and to learn more about the sport. There is so much I love about it but I think what I love the most is the feeling you get after a fight and just the feeling of winning. When I’m in the ring, it’s such an amazing feeling. Being there teaches me discipline and hard work. It also teaches me to be confident in myself and also enhances my mental outlook on life. It definitely helped with my mental health a lot since I started boxing,” said Sonday.
She was a sprinter who used to participate in athletics at school – and boxing has been an extension of her love for sporting.
“At first, I started doing it just for fitness and for fun. But then last year I had my first fight. That’s when my journey to boxing on a bigger level actually started. I started getting better in the ring and my dreams started becoming more inclined to excel at the sport,” said Sonday. She says her first fight last year was just at a normal boxing event.
“The more events I participated in the better I became and then people started to recognise me and the opportunity presented itself to compete at a national level,” said Sonday.
Sonday says months of intense training, hard work, and dedication went into planning for the national championships. “The training was intense, it was training every day, super hard training from months before the event and putting lots of work into it. ‘The competition was tough. All the girls I went up against had competed at nationals for at least five years, but I was competing for the first time in the competition and I managed to walk away with silver in the 54 kg category,” said Sonday.
She dreams of pursuing professional boxing in the future
“I would love to continue competing at a professional level and I would love to compete internationally someday. This is what I will now work towards.”
Champion
Sonday says her role model in the boxing world had to be Claressa Maria Shields.
“She’s a two-time Olympic champion as well as a three-time undisputed world champion. Seeing a woman achieve such greatness in the sport is really inspiring to me as well as her work ethic,” said Sonday.
Sonday said she owed her recent success to her coach, Fidaah Edries, of the Fighterz INC. MMA and Wellness Academy.
“Fidaah is the best coach and he really changed my life. He really helps me prepare mentally. I’m always nervous, but once the fight starts, all those nerves just go away,” said Sonday.
Edries said he was extremely proud of Sonday’s achievements.
“She’s an athlete and a woman who is doing boxing to empower herself on all levels, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. She is a very hard worker who is consistent. It’s all about being consistent and being disciplined if you want to make it in this sport. I see success embodied within her. She pushes really hard and she enjoys what she does,” said Edries.
He said he had great admiration for Sonday as she was always ready to take on any challenge with confidence and never gives up, even when something seems insurmountable. “She is just so resilient and always goes for it, and she’s
going to continue to excel because of her character,” said Edries.
