In A local fight that was so one-sided yet served to display undue courage, Ali Funeka scored an eighth-round stoppage over Boitshepo Mandawe to retain his SA junior welterweight crown at the Mdantsane Indoor Centre yesterday.
If there was anything Mandawe showed it was incredible ability to take punches.
Funeka hit him with everything but the kitchen sink and the visitor never stopped coming forward nor did he show any likelihood of falling.
Instead Mandawe implored Funeka to bring it on in an inhuman display of bravery and durability. And Funeka obliged as he switched his attack from the head to the body, drawing blood from Mandawe’s cut which appeared to have been sustained before he came into the ring.
With Funeka blasting away in vigour and blood streaming down Mandawe’s face, the bout turned into a hideous affair with parents shielding their kids from watching any further.
Calls for Mandawe’s corner to stop the carnage served no point as veteran trainer Harold Volbrecht turned a deaf ear.
When Mandawe’s handlers could not stop it, spectators turned their appeal to the referee.
However, when the referee was about to jump in, Mandawe fired back, causing the referee to let the carnage continue.
But in the eighth round Funeka rained down a flurry of punches, giving Mandawe no time to retaliate, and as spectators screamed for the stoppage the referee finally relented.
In another bout, Lwandisa Zinto was knocked out in five rounds by veteran and seemingly spent force Oscar Chauke for the vacant SA featherweight crown.
Coming to this fight, Zinto had used his lethal left hook to score a devastating five knockouts in succession and was favoured to continue with the streak against the Johannesburg visitor.
However, his new team decided to change him and make him a boxer, when he is so good when he brawls, where his left hook had proved to be a potent weapon.
A confused Zinto could not get his rhythm as he did not know whether to box or brawl. This presented the experienced Chauke an opportunity to impose his will using the jab to score points.
With calls from the crowd for Zinto to box, he appeared more bewildered as the fight progressed while Chauke gradually took control and finally ended matters with a barrage of blows which sank Zinto to the ropes for a full count in the fifth round.
Other results: Thembelani Maphuma W10 Athi Dumezweni (EC junior bantamweight title); Xolani Mxcotheli W6 Vuyani Masondo (junior lightweight); Xolani Malotana KO3 Thandolwethu Nkwenteni (mini-flyweight).
Funeka keeps title in one-sided bloodbath
If there was anything Mandawe showed it was incredible ability to take punches.
Funeka hit him with everything but the kitchen sink and the visitor never stopped coming forward nor did he show any likelihood of falling.
Instead Mandawe implored Funeka to bring it on in an inhuman display of bravery and durability. And Funeka obliged as he switched his attack from the head to the body, drawing blood from Mandawe’s cut which appeared to have been sustained before he came into the ring.
With Funeka blasting away in vigour and blood streaming down Mandawe’s face, the bout turned into a hideous affair with parents shielding their kids from watching any further.
Calls for Mandawe’s corner to stop the carnage served no point as veteran trainer Harold Volbrecht turned a deaf ear.
When Mandawe’s handlers could not stop it, spectators turned their appeal to the referee.
However, when the referee was about to jump in, Mandawe fired back, causing the referee to let the carnage continue.
But in the eighth round Funeka rained down a flurry of punches, giving Mandawe no time to retaliate, and as spectators screamed for the stoppage the referee finally relented.
In another bout, Lwandisa Zinto was knocked out in five rounds by veteran and seemingly spent force Oscar Chauke for the vacant SA featherweight crown.
Coming to this fight, Zinto had used his lethal left hook to score a devastating five knockouts in succession and was favoured to continue with the streak against the Johannesburg visitor.
However, his new team decided to change him and make him a boxer, when he is so good when he brawls, where his left hook had proved to be a potent weapon.
A confused Zinto could not get his rhythm as he did not know whether to box or brawl. This presented the experienced Chauke an opportunity to impose his will using the jab to score points.
With calls from the crowd for Zinto to box, he appeared more bewildered as the fight progressed while Chauke gradually took control and finally ended matters with a barrage of blows which sank Zinto to the ropes for a full count in the fifth round.
Other results: Thembelani Maphuma W10 Athi Dumezweni (EC junior bantamweight title); Xolani Mxcotheli W6 Vuyani Masondo (junior lightweight); Xolani Malotana KO3 Thandolwethu Nkwenteni (mini-flyweight).
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