South Africa’s Hedda ‘The Shredder’ Wolmarans was crowned the Female IBF Africa Jr Welterweight champion at Africa Boxing 15 on Thursday, after beating Malawian soldier Ruth Chisale by unanimous decision over 10 rounds.
The third ESPN Africa Boxing event of the year saw three knockouts across 37 rounds of intense action, with the main event, Wolmerans against Chisale, definitely the fight of the night.
It was an epic battle between the women, who stood toe-to-toe from the first bell and slugged it out for all 10 rounds. The South African dominated the early rounds, but the Malawian fought back to take the middle rounds.
Only a smart boxing display from The Shredder in the final three rounds saw her edge a close bout, and Wolmarans after the fight: “She [Chisale] was a warrior, a war horse.
“I really had to earn it. The last three rounds I pulled it out of the hat, I boxed clever.”
Phuzi underlines his Cruiserweight title ambitions
In the co-main event, Akani ‘Prime’ Phuzi (12W-2L-0D) made a massive statement with a third round TKO win over Lebogang Moshitoa (8W-3L-0D) in their Cruiserweight contest.
Phuzi was impressive from the onset as he closed the distance and controlled the ring, using clearly superior boxing skills. Moshitoa was in deep water from the start as he tried to evade the power of his opponent.
Moshitoa first went down at the end of round two after some swift combinations from Phuzi. ‘Prime’ kept up the pressure in the third and put Moshitoa to the canvas for the second time with a right-hook.
The latter managed to answer the count but was quickly on the deck again following a devastating right uppercut. Still, Moshitoa got up again, but Phuzi put him down for a third time in the round after a beautiful left-hook to the body which saw the referee finally call the fight.
Phuzi’s next bout will likely see him challenge for the South African Cruiserweight title against either Johnny Muller or Thomas Oosthuizen.
Tsholo wins with a massive body shot KO
The first bout on the main card produced a spectacular first-round knockout for Itumeleng Tsholo (4W-1L-0D) over Deon Mbumbane (4W-10L-0D) in their Featherweight contest.
Mbumbane came out swinging, but Tsholo was more measured in his approach and landed a massive left-hook to the body that saw his opponent hit the canvas and unable to answer the 10-count two minutes and 59 seconds into the fight.
Controversial TKO win for Makhense The second bout on the main card saw South African Jabulani Makhense (12W-1L-0D) earn a controversial TKO victory over Zimbabwean Philip Musariri (7W-3L-2D) in their 65kg Catchweight fight.
Makhense was by far the better boxer and was landing blows almost at will which saw referee Thabo Spampoel put an end to the contest at one minute and 36 seconds into round one. Musariri, though, was still intelligently defending himself and many at ringside will believe the fight was called to early.
Comfortable win for Allen
It was a comfortable victory for Boyd Allen (6W-1L-1D) over Linda Ntshingila (4W-3L-1D) in their 72.5kg Catchweight fight, the former winning by Unanimous Decision (77-73, 78-74, 76-74) in the third bout on the main card.
Allen controlled the fight from the opening bell, using a lead-right to good effect to counter his southpaw opponent. Ntshingila offered very little in the way of resistance as Allen picked his shots and earned the sixth win of his career.
Main Card results:
– Itumeleng Tsholo wins by KO over Deon Mbumbane (2 min, 59 sec in round 1)
– Jabulani Makhense wins by TKO over Philip Musariri (1 min, 36 sec in round 1)
– Boyd Allen wins by Unanimous Decisions over Linda Ntshingila (77-73, 78-74, 76-74)
– Akani Phuzi wins by TKO over Lebogang Moshitoa (1 min, 37 sec in round 3)
– Hedda Wolmarans wins by Unanimous Decision over Ruth Chisale (97-93, 97-93, 96-94)
Undercard results:
– Sibonelo Maseko wins by Unanimous Decision over Zukisa Mafu (39-37, 39-37, 39-37)
– Draw between Nosiacaswe Dube and Sehliselwe Nhliziyo (38-38, 38-37, 36-37)
– Athenkosi Plaatjies wins by Unanimous Decision over Welcome Malumbu (58-57, 59-55, 58-56)
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