Siseko Teyisi took a step closer to the world rankings after capturing the IBF Intercontinental junior-flyweight title with a unanimous points victory over Filipino Elmar Zamora at East London’s Orient Theatre on Sunday.
The fight, which had been shrouded in uncertainty when top-rated Athenkosi Thongwana lodged a protest with Boxing SA to enforce his mandatory challenge for Teyisi’s SA title, never rose to any heights and both boxers missed badly, with the taller Teyisi using his reach advantage to steal rounds.
Zamora, who was overweight at the weigh-in and therefore would have been ineligible to win the belt even if he had emerged the victor, bounced around the ring like a galloping horse, hardly landing on the 22-year-old Mdantsane hero whose every move was loudly cheered by the partisan crowd in the packed hall.
The judges had Teyisi winning all the rounds with a lopsided 100-90 across the board.
In one of the best performances by a local boxer against a visiting opponent, Mdantsane’s Moyisi Booi scored a stirring eight-round stoppage victory over heavy-handed Ntethelelo Magcaba to win the vacant SA junior-bantamweight title.
It was a disciplined display by Booi against an imposing foe who came to the fight boasting a frightening knockout percentage, having won all but one of his seven bouts by stoppage.
Magcaba, from KwaZulu-Natal, looked every bit the power puncher as he used his gangly frame to force Booi to box on the outside.
With a superior ring IQ, Booi relied on his boxing acumen as he pivoted his southpaw foe before scoring with rapid punches to bank the early rounds.
Magcaba rallied in the fifth round, but Booi wisely neutralised his onslaught to reassert control.
Booi occasionally ripped into his opponent with thudding body punches, making Magcaba grimace each time one landed.
Magcaba had a big round seven when Booi seemed to slip into complacency, but the tide quickly turned to familiar territory for the Mdantsane hero in the eighth when he landed two sickening body blows which left Magcaba bent at the waist, gasping for air and taking a count.
Booi continued his bombardment to the body when the fight resumed, forcing Magcaba to drop to one knee for another count.
Smelling blood, Booi went in for the kill with a fusillade of blows, trapping his foe in the corner. With Magcaba unable to retaliate, referee Alan Matakane was forced to jump in and stop the carnage.
Former amateur star Sinovuyo Mthintelwa barely kept his unbeaten record when he scored a controversial stoppage win in the last round over Thimna Lingani in their flyweight clash.
Mthintelwa landed a left hook right as the bell sounded to end their six-round action-packed bout which he had seemed to be on the verge of losing after being wobbled badly in the fourth and virtually saved by the bell.
Mthintelwa spent the fifth round running with Lingani in hot pursuit.
Unable to connect with the punch, Mthintelwa suddenly uncorked a left hook out of nowhere that sent Lingani crashing onto his back.
Lingani rose on unsteady legs, only to stagger backwards and was propped up by the ropes as the fight was waved over long after the bell had ended it.
There was confusion about the exact outcome with the ring announcer’s muffled microphone not helping to inform spectators who had actually won.
SA junior-flyweight title heir-apparent Gcobani Mdeliswa scored a fifth-round knockout over Akhona Msindeli to move closer to a title shot.
Mdeliswa appeared to be getting in some target practice as he landed his punches at will, with Msindeli hardly returning fire.
The fact that the bout went as far as the fifth round underscored Msindeli’s resilience.
Other results: Lelethu Mzule TKO2 Inganathi Mhambi (jnr light); Aphiwe Nxazonke W6 Avuma Ngxcongolo (jnr bantam).
Daily Dispatch
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