Hlumelo Gingxana finally became a provincial lightweight boxing champion after stopping Aphiwe Magobiyane in the second round of their bout at the Thobi Kula Indoor Centre in Komani at the weekend.
However, Magobiyane protested against the stoppage, which appeared premature after the Gqeberha boxer was dropped by a flurry of punches from Gingxana.
Looking sharp and focused, Gingxana, who had been chasing the title since March 2025, wasted no time in launching an offensive with his right jabs often landing in his opponent’s midsection.
In a battle of left-handers, Magobiyane, whose last fight was as a junior lightweight, looked calm until a big right hook dropped him hard.
He rose on steady legs, but Gingxana trapped him on the ropes and landed big blows, though some hit the guards.
With Magobiyane not fighting back, the referee jumped in and stopped the fight, causing Magobiyane to protest vehemently.
He stormed out of the ring and went to his car, where he was still swearing, accusing the referee of ensuring that Gingxana was the winner.
“They wanted Gingxana to win from the beginning, and no matter what I did, I was never going to leave the ring a winner,” he said.
“How could they stop the fight like that when I was still in it?
“Yes, he was throwing punches, but I was able to block all of them.”
The win helped Gingxana become the first boxing champion from Braelyn in East London and ended a year of frustration over his inability to get the title shot when former champion Siseko Makeleni kept pulling out of their fight until he was finally stripped of the belt.
The tournament, staged by Pepzin Promotion in association with the provincial department of sport, recreation, arts and culture, also saw former amateur star Amzolele Dyeyi stretching his unbeaten record to five bouts by stopping Mawethu Limo in three rounds of their bantamweight clash.
Signed by powerful Johannesburg manager Colin Nathan, Dyeyi was at his best with Limo unable to weather his body blows.
Limo went down in the first round but claimed he was hit below the belt and was given time to recover.
However, Dyeyi went back to the body, dropping his foe in the second round before finally putting him away in the third.
In a wild shoot-out which saw both boxers taking several trips to the canvas, Sinoxolo Zonke finally prevailed when he halted Sikhokele Nyamakazi in the third round of their lightweight scrap.
The southpaw dreadlocked Nyamakazi started strong, throwing an avalanche of punches to drop Zonke.
Nyamakazi appeared to be just seconds away from ending the bout when Zonke landed a haymaker out of nowhere to drop Nyamakazi hard.
Nyamakazi rose on unsteady legs and held on for dear life to see out the round.
But the momentum had swung in Zonke’s favour as he dropped his foe in the second round only to walk into a big punch himself to sink to the canvas.
From then on it was a “knock-down, drag-out” battle until Zonke finally found the punch to put his opponent down and out for good.
Other results: Mpumelelo Nyalela W4 Hlumelo Makhonco (bantam); Chumani Ngqeleni W4 Sibusiso Moyakhe (jnr feather); Abenathi Magoqoza TKO1 Likho Mshweshwe (jnr fly).
Daily Dispatch
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