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Vinnige Fana grabs IBF title
Mzonke Fana won the vacant IBF junior lightweight title when he overwhelmed Cassius Baloyi at Carnival City, Brakpan, on Wednesday night.
The scores of 119-109 (Neville Hodge), 118-110 (Alf Buqwana) and 119-110 (Isaac Tshabalala) tell most of the story.
Fana (58.80 kg) went on the attack in the first round and stayed on his toes and on top of his opponent until the end of the bout.
The sheer volume of punches, rather than power, won the fight and the belt for the hero of Khayelitsha, Cape Town, who has now won his second IBF junior lightweight belt.
He took some solid punches on the way to a run-away victory, but Baloyi (58.74 kg), who needed a knockout to win as early as the end of the eighth round, had lost his ability to stop even a sub-standard defender such as Fana.
Fana probably lost one of the first six rounds and not another one for the rest of the fight.
His hand speed, which could earn him the nickname Vinnige Fana, was impressive. He might have had a chance of stopping Baloyi by varying his strategy but he never stepped back to create a little space.
Baloyi, the "Hit Man," was hit so often that he went to the wrong corner at the end of the sixth round. His best days seemed well behind him as the 35-year-old's record dropped to 37-5-1, with 19 knockouts.
It was sad to see Baloyi, a brave champion and a fighter who has been a credit to the game, take such a battering. Referee Deon Dwarte and Baloyi’s corner erred by not stopping the fight or throwing in the towel.
Fana, 37, looked years younger and improved to 30-4; 12 as he regained the title he had held before. Baloyi was hoping to win an unprecedented seventh belt.
Mthalane retains title
In another all-South African clash Moruti Mthalane retained the IBF flyweight belt when he stopped Zolani Tete 2 minutes 27 seconds into the fifth round.
The 27-year-old Mthalane (50.78 kg) was making the first defence of his title. Tete, who is 22 came in at 50.76 kg.
Mthalane, who improved his record to 26-2, with 16 knockouts, battled during the first three rounds to counter the height, reach and southpaw style of Tete (13-1; 11) and even bled from ths nose in the second round.
However, late in the third round there were ominous signs when he buckled Tete’s knees with a big right to the head.
In the fourth, he began to take command against the inexperienced challenger. Midway through round five he dropped Tete for a count with a left-right combination in the neutral corner.
Soon afterwards he had the challenger down again in his own corner with a stiff left jab.
Tete beat the count but the writing was on the wall and Toni Tiberi from Luxemburg stepped in to stop the fight as Tete was being battered against the ropes .
Ndlovu wins IBF eliminator
Takalani Ndlovu showed his years of experience when he outscored Jeffrey Mathebula over 12 rounds in an IBF junior featherweight title eliminator.
The former SA and WBU featherweight and IBO junior featherweight champion won by 114-113 on the cards of judges Wally Snowball and Jaap van Nieuwenhuizen. Simon Xamlashe saw it 118-109.
Ndlovu weighed 55.02 kg and Mathebula 55.04.
The was little action in the first few rounds, but in the fourth Mathebula stopped Ndlovu in his tracks with a short right to the head. From then on the action picked up it and it became an entertaining fight.
Referee Toni Tiberi from Luxemburg appeared rather harsh in deducting a point from Mathebula in the last round of what was a clean fight for going in with the head.
Ndlovu lacked his usual sharpness but his experience and skills were enough for him to take a deserved decision against his taller opponent.
Ndlovu improved his record to 31-6; 18 and Mathebula dropped to 23-3-2; 13.
Takayama stops Lefele in sixth
Katsunari Takayama was too strong and experienced for SA minimumweight champion Tshepo Lefele and stopped him in the sixth round of their IBF mini-flyweight title eliminator.
The Japanese fighter (47.30kg) came out fast at the first bell and took the fight to the South African, scoring with big shots to the body and head.
Lefele (47.60 kg) possibly shaded the second round but had no answer to the sustained attack from his opponent who won rounds three, four and five.
In the sixth Takayama battered Lefele against the ropes and when the South African turned his back on him, referee Deon Dwarte stopped the fight, 51 seconds into the round.
Takayama takes his record to 24-4; 10 and Lefele drops to 16-5; 10. The judges were Tony Tiberi, Alf Buqwana and Isaac Tshabalala.
The tournament, rather poorly attended, was presented by promoter Branco Milenkovic of Branco Sports Productions.
