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Punisher Slap Fight: SA’s Viral Combat Sport Shakes the Scene

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on Punisher Slap Fight: SA’s Viral Combat Sport Shakes the Scene
In the dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of combat sports, a new and controversial discipline has emerged at the forefront: Punisher Slap Fight. With viral clips dominating social media platforms and captivating global audiences, this intense spectacle is sparking widespread discussion—not only for its visceral appeal but also for the ethical and safety concerns it raises.
 
Distinct from traditional combat sports that emphasize agility, strategy, and defensive skill, Punisher Slap Fight is a contest rooted in raw endurance and physical resilience. The format is starkly simple: two competitors take turns delivering open-handed slaps while standing motionless—no dodging, no blocking, and no retreat. Victory is achieved when one participant is no longer able to continue.
 
Once considered a fringe novelty, Punisher Slap Fight has rapidly transitioned into the mainstream, buoyed by skyrocketing viewership figures and increasing celebrity endorsement. Yet, as its popularity grows, so too does the debate about its place in the world of professional sport and entertainment.
 
What is Punisher Slap Fight?
 
Punisher Slap Fight (PSF) is a competitive slap fighting organization based in Brakpan, Gauteng, South Africa. Founded by Robert Krisch—known in the sport as “The Punisher”—the league has rapidly grown in popularity, earning recognition for its high-intensity matchups and strong community engagement.
 
PSF hosts professionally organized events featuring athletes from various weight divisions, including lightweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight categories. With a focus on both entertainment and sportsmanship, the league showcases title bouts, semifinals, and other marquee matchups that highlight the skill, endurance, and discipline of its competitors.
 
Recent Event: PSF #12:
The latest edition of Punisher Slap Fight, PSF #12, took place on May 31, 2025, at Grasslands Driving Range, located at 65 Glengory Road, Vlakfontein, Benoni. The event featured an action-packed lineup of 13 bouts, showcasing the sport’s rising stars and seasoned competitors across multiple weight divisions.
 
A standout moment of the evening was the lightweight title clash, where former champion Mike “The Viking” van Tonder lost his title to Chris “Dynamite” Steenkamp in a hard-fought battle that signaled a new era in the division.
 
In the heavyweight semifinal, Terrence “Supra” Labuschagne faced off against Shaun Scheepers in a gripping showdown. Labuschagne emerged victorious and has secured his place in the heavyweight final, scheduled for August 2025, where he will face Robert “The Punisher” Krisch for the heavyweight title. Meanwhile, Shaun Scheepers will go up against Francois “Whiplash” Nel in a clash for second place in the heavyweight division.
 
Tickets for PSF #12 were available at the venue, with a strong crowd in attendance—further evidence of Punisher Slap Fight’s growing momentum in the combat sports scene.

PUMA Launches Exclusive Collection For Hyrox World Championships

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on PUMA Launches Exclusive Collection For Hyrox World Championships

With the HYROX World Championships Chicago 2025 just days away, global sports company PUMA has unveiled its hotly-anticipated second collection of PUMA x HYROX co-branded apparel and footwear.

Built with HYROX athletes in mind, the collection features new footwear silhouettes and apparel designs, helping you train harder, race smarter, push past limits and go wild; whether you’re gearing up for your first HYROX event or chasing a new personal best.

Making its race debut at the HYROX World Championships Chicago, the collection will be worn by Elite 15 athletes including Men’s Pro World Record holder Hunter McIntyre, Women’s Open World Record holder Lucy Procter, and UK athlete Jake Dearden.

“The HYROX World Championships is the pinnacle of the HYROX calendar, and this year has added meaning, being in my home country. Turning up on race day feeling and looking my best is paramount to my performance, and I can’t wait to do that in the new PUMA x HYROX collection,” said Hunter McIntyre.

Featuring PUMA’s innovative CLOUDSPUN and LUXFIT technologies, the apparel range is designed to keep HYROX athletes of all levels comfortable and dry throughout their training block and race day. The CLOUDSPUN premium-brushed material provides racers with the softest training gear on the market, as the THERMOADAPT moisture-wicking technology cools you down when you are hot and deactivates once cooling is complete, optimising comfort and performance.

For the first time ever, selected items in women’s range will use SHAPELUXE fabric, made with LUXFIT and LYCRA® ADAPTIV technology to create a customised second skin fit that moves with you.

Key items in the women’s collection include the essential tight, the 3” tight short and a high-neck bra. The new men’s range features a tee, 2-in-1 train short and a hoodie.

There are also exciting updates for PUMA’s iconic footwear, with Deviate NITRO™ 3 and Deviate NITRO™ Elite 3 receiving a vibrant colour refresh guaranteed to standout on race day.

Deviate NITRO™ Elite 3 – the shoe of choice for PUMA’s elite HYROX athletes – is optimised to be lightweight and built for speed. The ultimate race day runner features PUMA’s innovative NITROFOAM™ ELITE for best-in-class responsiveness and energy return, while strategically placed PUMAGRIP ensures unrivalled traction through exercises, with a specially engineered PWRPLATE makes racing feel effortless.

Infused with PUMA’s unique NITROFOAM™ and a less aggressive PWRPLATE than its Elite counterpart, Deviate NITRO™ 3 is your reliable and responsive racer that features more of PUMA’s industry-leading PUMAGRIP, ensuring you stay on your feet from start to finish.

Erin Longin, Vice President Run/Train at PUMA, said: “The ultimate fitness race requires the ultimate apparel and footwear, and our latest PUMA x HYROX collection delivers. Every piece has been meticulously designed and curated for HYROX athletes, ensuring they excel in every rep, at every station, right to the finish line.”

“PUMA has been a key partner in HYROX’s growth,” said Moritz Fürste, co-founder of HYROX. “Our shared ambition is to shape the future of fitness racing – making it more accessible, exciting, and performance-driven for athletes at every level. Together, we’re pushing the boundaries in training gear innovation, ensuring that both elite competitors and everyday participants benefit from the same high standards in apparel and footwear.”

The Deviate NITRO™ 3 and Deviate NITRO™ Elite 3 from the new collection will drop exclusively at the HYROX World Championships Chicago from 11 June. The full collection will launch globally on 19 June, available to purchase at HYROX events, on HYROX World, on PUMA.com, in PUMA flagship stores and in selected retailers.

For more information visit www.puma.com and follow @PUMATraining, or visit www.hyrox.com and follow @hyroxworld

The Long Run to Redemption

Roxanne MartinNewsLeave a Comment on The Long Run to Redemption

From the Cape Flats to Comrades Glory, Denver van der Bergh’s epic 1680 kilometre journey of hope. By Adnaan Mohamed

Everyday for the past 35 days, my phone has lit up with a message from a man who, by every metric, should not be alive—let alone running the length of a country. But Denver van der Bergh is not merely alive. He is ablaze.

He sends me updates from the side of dusty roads, from inside blistered shoes, with sweat streaking his face and his voice steady with fire. Each message is a verse in a larger hymn—an unfolding gospel of grit, grace, and glorious resurrection.

Denver, 48, has just completed the first chapter of what he calls The Serenity Run, a 1,680km spiritual odyssey on foot from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg, culminating this Sunday in the 89km Comrades Marathon.

But this isn’t just a long-distance run. It’s a thunderous testament to the human capacity to climb out of hell barefoot—and keep running.

“There’s already so much suffering in the world. I just wanted to spread a little hope.” Denver says proudly.

FROM COLD STREETS TO BURNING PURPOSE

He didn’t start this journey on a starting line. He started in the dark.

Denver grew up in the Cape Flats, where dreams are often smothered by survival. His early years were marred by trauma—the kind of silent, slow poison that rots from the inside.

 “I blamed myself when my grandfather died,” he told me once, the way someone might mention a long-healed scar. “I stopped believing… in everything.”

By 23, he was deep in addiction. Alcohol first, then drugs—a slow drip that pulled him under for 25 years. His life was a series of burning bridges.

“I thought it was a habit. But it was a cage. I kept trying to unlock it with shame, but shame only built more bars.”

He attempted to take his life. He didn’t want to run anymore. Until someone—an employer, not a therapist—offered him a choice: face the music, or seek help.

THE FIRST STEP

Ramot Treatment Centre in Parow didn’t look like salvation. But it felt like it.

“There was no judgment,” he said. “Just people who had seen the darkness, and survived it. That’s when I knew I wasn’t a monster. I was a man with pain that hadn’t been named yet.”

In recovery, he discovered the Serenity Prayer. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change… It wasn’t just a prayer. It was a map. And Denver decided to follow it—one trembling, blistered step at a time.

THE FIRE RETURNS

At Ramot, he started jogging.

What began as playful laps around the rehab garden became races. Then rituals. Then redemption.

“I started chasing something again,” he told me once. “But this time, it wasn’t an escape. It was a return—to myself.”

The races came. Two Oceans. Comrades. And then, this year, something monumental: to mark five years of sobriety, Denver decided to run from Cape Town to Pietermaritzburg… and then lace up for his back-to-back Comrades Marathon.

“I wanted to give back to the place that gave me my life. To raise R500,000 for Ramot. To show someone out there—you, maybe—that it’s possible to come back from the brink.”

A RUN LIKE NO OTHER

Every day for 35 days, Denver has pounded the tar. Alone. Carrying nothing but a GPS tracker, a small team on call, and a heart like a war drum.

Fifty kilometres a day. Hills that bite like wolves. Heat that bakes through bone. Days when his calves locked like iron gates. Nights when sleep slipped through fingers made for prayer.

“I’ve had moments where I felt like quitting,” he messaged me once, somewhere in the Eastern Cape, after pushing 73km in a single day to make up for a day lost after picking up an injury. 

“But then I remember—I’m not running away anymore. I’m running toward something.”

Each kilometre was a step into healing. Each road sign, a reminder that the past may chase us, but we are not obligated to stop and greet it.

“I’M FIVE YEARS SOBER BECAUSE SOMEONE ONCE REACHED OUT TO HELP ME”

That’s what Denver told me on day 29, in a gravel lay-by, while a storm rolled in behind him. I saved the voice note. I still listen to it when I need reminding.

There is nothing ordinary about this man. Not his smile, which now glows like sunrise on stained glass. Not his journey, which reads like scripture scribbled in sweat. And certainly not his message, which echoes louder with every step:

“We write off addicts too easily,” he says. “But addiction isn’t failure. It’s untreated pain. I’m proof that healing is possible. That broken doesn’t mean beyond repair.”

THE FINAL STRETCH

After running the first five kilometres with his Celtic Harriers club mates from Rondebosch Common in Cape Town on 1 May, Denver arrived in Pietermaritzburg just after 9 a.m. on Thursday 5 June, legs weary but spirit unshaken.

Members of the Collegian Harriers met him at Southgate Mall and escorted him for the final 3.9km to Comrades House.

Now, he rests. But not for long.

On Sunday, he’ll face the Comrades Marathon, the iconic 89km stretch between PMB and Durban. For most, it’s a mountain. For Denver, it’s the home stretch of a resurrection.

THE DREAM THAT BECAME REALITY

Denver often describes his journey as “running through fire to find the ocean.” And indeed, every kilometre of The Serenity Run has been a baptism by flame.

But here he stands—scarred, smiling, and stronger than ever—ankle-deep in a tide of hope.

“THIS ISN’T JUST A RUN. IT’S A RESURRECTION.”

That’s how he put it in one of his early messages to me, back when we both knew what lay ahead, but not what would rise from it.

I’ve watched this man climb out of his past like a phoenix scraping skyward. I’ve felt the crackle of that fire with every update. And I’ve come to believe what Denver proves every single day: That pain is not the end of the story. It’s the beginning of purpose.

So on Sunday, when the record 22 000 Comrades field surges forward, look for the man who’s already outrun his demons. He won’t be at the front.

He won’t be at the back. He’ll be somewhere in the middle—steady, radiant, running not away from something, but into everything he was meant to become.

To support the Serenity Run or donate to the Ramot Treatment Centre, visit https://www.backabuddy.co.za/campaign/serenity

Follow Denver’s journey at @theserenityrun on Instagram

Denver can be tracked in the Comrades Marathon here: https://rtrt.me/ulink/CMSA/CMSA-COMRADES-2025/tracker/RN6XZ8LK/focus

Bedfordview Athletics Cancels Boroughs of Bedfordview Race

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on Bedfordview Athletics Cancels Boroughs of Bedfordview Race

Bedfordview, Gauteng – Bedfordview Athletics regrets to announce the cancellation of the Boroughs of Bedfordview race, scheduled for 21 September 2025.

This community event was launched in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to reunite and re-energize runners through a traditional road race format. It was a celebration of resilience and community spirit during a time when the running world had been turned upside down.

With the road running calendar now fully restored and participation levels returning to pre-Covid norms, Bedfordview Athletics has made the strategic decision to streamline its efforts and resources. The club will now focus its energy on delivering an exceptional experience through its flagship event—the Biogen 21km Run, held annually in January.

“We’re incredibly proud of what the Boroughs of Bedfordview race represented and the role it played in helping bring our running community back together,” said Grant Panter, club chairman of Bedfordview Athletics. “Our priority is to ensure we continue to grow and improve the Biogen 21km, which remains a highlight on the national running calendar.”

Bedfordview Athletics extends its sincere thanks to all the athletes, volunteers, sponsors, and community members who supported the Boroughs of Bedfordview over the past few years. The club looks forward to welcoming runners from across the country to the Biogen 21km in January 2026.

For further information on the Biogen 21km, please visit
https://www.biogen21.co.za

 

Rolling with the Roving Cow: Grit, goggles, and a guide dog named Ginty

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on Rolling with the Roving Cow: Grit, goggles, and a guide dog named Ginty

Kathleeen Amelia Flanagan was born with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The condition slowly narrows the field of vision: in layman’s terms, it’s like having permanent tunnel vision. Despite this she’s never been one to shy away from a challenge — including when, as she got older, her vision deteriorated further. Now she’s storming the triathlon circuit, even earning a national title. Our Roving Cow Richard Laskey gets the full story.

Wild Frontiers Await: The Kruger2canyon Challenge

Tanika LaskeyFeatures, NewsLeave a Comment on Wild Frontiers Await: The Kruger2canyon Challenge

Calling all trail enthusiasts! The legendary Kruger2Canyon Challenge returns to the breathtaking landscapes of Hoedspruit from June 27-29, 2025, offering an adventure that combines majestic mountains with the raw beauty of African bushveld. Established in 2015, the K2C has earned its reputation as one of South Africa’s most spectacular trail events. What makes this challenge truly special? It’s the only race that takes you through the dramatic northern Drakensberg mountains and the wildlife-rich bushveld bordering Kruger National Park – all in one unforgettable weekend.

Day 1 tests your mettle on “The Mountain Day”, traversing the stunning Mariepskop and Blyde River Canyon with elevations that reward you with panoramic vistas stretching to the horizon. Day 2 shifts dramatically to “The Bush Day” at Moholoholo Mountain View, where your trail companions might include buffalo, hippo, leopard, and abundant plains game. This contrast of landscapes in a single event is simply unmatched anywhere else.

The K2C caters to all levels of trail adventurers with four distance options:

The ultimate 70km challenge (42km/2300m elevation + 28km/410m elevation)
The balanced 44km option (25km/1440m elevation + 19km/370m elevation)
The accessible 30km experience (16km/1080m elevation + 14km/280m elevation)
The introductory 20km adventure (10.1km/550m elevation + 10km/230m elevation)

Not ready for running? No problem! Hikers are warmly welcomed on the 30km and 20km routes, making this an inclusive event for all outdoor enthusiasts. Beyond the physical challenge, the K2C offers an immersive connection with two of South Africa’s most precious environments. Where else can you summit a mountain overlooking the world’s third largest canyon one day, then spot iconic African wildlife on the trail the next?

The Kruger2Canyon experience extends beyond the trail with a vibrant race village, excellent support stations, and an atmosphere that celebrates a competitive spirit and personal achievement.
Whether you’re seeking a qualifying race for bigger ultras, your first trail running adventure, or simply a unique active holiday in one of South Africa’s most beautiful regions, the K2C delivers an experience that will leave you changed.

Don’t miss your opportunity to experience this extraordinary challenge. 

Enter here: https://kruger2canyonchallenge.co.za/k2c-2025-entries/