I’ve been fortunate enough to have attended big fights across the world. Nowhere comes close to East London’s Orient Theatre for spine-tingling excitement.

Tatty and worn, the beachfront venue oozes history and tradition. It comes to life on fight night, as it did on Friday for promoter Andile Sidinile’s tournament.

The crowd is always magnificent. From beginning to end they chant and sing and bay. Even out-of-towners are warmly applauded, but only if they play their part in a thrilling scrap. Most do.

The place is small, with seating for just 1200, so the din is shrill and intimidating. It’s not surprising that the famous venue has become known for hometown decisions. The advantage of fighting at home for Eastern Cape boxers, who come from townships where boxing rather than soccer is king, is surely worth two or three points before the first bell has rung. The heaving crowd makes this so.

They lift the boxers and carry them along while they sing and sway, round after round, fight after fight.

As ever, the audience is predominantly black, save for the fabled white woman seated bang in the middle of the main stand. Jill Grevyenstein stands out starkly for her flowing blonde hair. Fluent in Xhosa, she never misses a tournament and is as much a part of the scene as the ululating crowds.

“There’s nowhere in the world like it,” says Brian Mitchell, former world champion and SuperSport commentator. He never fought at the mecca, but says he would have loved the pressure wrought by the hometown fans.

The difference between East London and any other SA city is that homebodies know boxing inside-out. The Eastern Cape is the ancestral home of domestic boxing and the locals revel to the action.

For them, it’s a religion and they are always happy to spread the great gospel, loudly and lovingly.