Sibusiso Zingange claimed the South African Junior Lightweight belt at Africa Boxing on Feb. 24, beating four-time defending champion Phila Mpontshane by unanimous decision over 12 rounds.
It wasn’t the only title bout of the night though, as South Africa’s Smangele Hadebe dominated from start to finish to beat Tanzania’s Halima Vunjabei across 10 two-minute rounds and claim the Africa Boxing Union female flyweight belt.
The second ESPN Africa Boxing event of the year, held at the EFC Training Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa, saw a total of 50 crunching rounds across seven bouts.
The main bout was the certainly well-matched, despite Mpontshane not having a pro fight since Sep. 2019. Challenger Zingange was in control from the opening bell though, using his jab to good effect as he kept the ever-pressing Mpontshane at bay.
Zingange was extremely accurate with his shots and kept tagging Mpontshane on his way inside. Nevertheless, the champion kept pushing forward and he paid the price in the sixth round when a straight right cut the top of his left eye.
From that point on it was all Zingange and he highlighted his superiority when a stiff jab sent Mpontshane to the canvas in the seventh. The champion quickly got back up but was chasing the fight in the following rounds and the challenger took full of advantage of that, landing blows almost at will.
Mpontshane was lucky to survive the closing rounds and should be happy to escape the night without being knocked out, as Zingange essentially mocked him in the 12th round by making come hither motions and winding his arm before throwing punches.
Zingange’s fight record moves to 17W-5L-2D while Mpontshane suffered the third loss of his career to go 15W-3L-0D.
Beautiful boxing display from Hadebe
The co-main event saw ‘Smash’ Hadebe crowned the new ABU Female Flyweight champion after a unanimous decision win over Vunjabei.
It was an overwhelmingly impressive showing from the South African, who left her opponent with one eye severely swollen shut.
The newly crowned champion took control of the fight from the second round when an overhand right struck the left eye of Vunjabei.
The Tanzanian’s eye swelled immediately and Hadebe showed no mercy, landing combination after combination and keeping her head well out of reach.
Hadebe said after the fight: “I’m very sorry [about her eye]. I did take advantage of it. Thanks to Halima. We put up a good fight.”
The South African’s fight record now stands at 11W-3L-2D while the Tanzanian’s professional career moves to 10W-8L-1D.
Rossouw destroys Mhlangu
The first bout of the main card produced a thrilling affair, with South African Darrin ‘The Destroyer’ Rossouw earning a sixth round TKO victory over Zimbabwe’s Thembani ‘Spanner Boy’ Mhlanga in their Junior Middleweight clash.
Rossouw led with a stinging jab that earned him the upper hand in the first couple of rounds. Mhlanga, though, was not to be outdone and kept pushing forward at a relentless pace despite suffering numerous blows to the head.
Finally, in the fifth round Rossouw’s combinations paid off, with a beautiful overhand right dropping the Zimbabwean to the floor. Mhlanga answered the count but was nearly out on his feet.
That was obvious in the sixth when Rossouw knocked him to the canvas for the second time, this time with an overhand left. The referee didn’t let the Zimbabwean answer the count, ending the fight with seconds to go.
Rossouw’s fight record sees him undefeated at 4W-0L-0D, while Mhlanga suffered the seventh loss of his professional career 3W-7L-0D.
Cape Town’s Kunert upset by Maduna
The second bout on the main card produced a mouth-watering split decision result with Sithembiso ‘The American Sniper’ Maduna picking up the victory over Abdul-Aziz ‘The Arabian Knight’ Kunert (58-56, 58-56, 55-59) in their six-round Featherweight clash.
Both fighters were busy early on, but Kunert, who had been ranked third in South Africa before the fight, seemed quicker to land his punches. Maduna, though, was not deterred and danced around the ring nicely, picking his shots instead of throwing wildly.
The third round is where things really picked up as both boxers stood in the center of the ring and traded vicious blows. Both landed massive punches and it was surprising they made it to the end of the round without someone hitting the deck.
Rounds four to six offered up the same exciting action, but in the end, it was the more accurate shots of Maduna that earned him the win.
With the victory for Maduna moved his fight record to 10W-1L-0D while Kunert fell to 10W-2L-0d.
Denis the Menace caught by The Sheriff
The third bout on the main card was another nail-biting split decision result, with South Africa’s Gift ‘The Sherriff’ Bholo beating Malawi’s Denis ‘The Menace’ Mwale (75-77, 77-75, 77-75) over eight rounds in their Junior Welterweight clash.
The opening round saw both fighters a little tentative with the most significant incident an accidental headbutt to Bholo’s right eye. The next few rounds saw Mwale take control of the fight, using a lead left-hook to pepper the eye of the South African, but a big right-hand from Bholo midway through the third sent the Malawian reeling and turned the bout.
The Sherriff kept pushing forward after that and was landing some telling blows to which Mwale had no answer. He tried to box smart in the latter rounds, using his jab and movement to keep out of reach, but it was to no effect as Bholo chased him down and won the fight.
Bholo will be hoping this win turns his career around, with his fight record standing at 9W-11L-0D while Mwale moves to 8W-3L-0D.
Main Card results:
– Darren Rossouw wins by TKO over Thembani Mhlanga (2 min, 22 secs in round 6)
– Sithembiso Maduna wins by Split Decision over Abdul-aziz Kunert (58-56, 58-56, 55-59)
– Gift Bholo wins by Split Decision over Denis Mwale (75-77, 77-75, 77-75)
– Simangele Hadebe wins by Unanimous Decision over Halima Vunjabei (99-93, 100-92, 98-92)
– Sibusiso Zingange wins by Unanimous Decision over Phila Mpontshane (120-107, 118-109, 120-109)
Undercard results:
– Nelson Mbhele wins by Unanimous Decision over Sydney Ntsemi (40-36,40-36, 40-36)
– Thami Luthuli wins by Unanimous Decision over Rofhiwa Maphupha (40-36, 39-37, 39-37)
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