ALBERTON – Dowayne completely outboxed experienced veteran Simon Mokoena and landed the knockout one minute and twelve seconds within the opening round.
The outcome of all the bouts on the bill could be highlighted as follows:
The Thunder Struck bill was opened by the pro-debut lightweight fight of Shane van Schalkwyk from North West against Mandla Sibusiso from Gauteng. The bout was stopped at the end of the second round by the match referee in favour of the Gauteng boxer.
The bantamweight clash between Ronald Malindi and Meshack Matabula saw Ronald Malindi from the West Rand taking the crown, which he has actually worn before the start by a TKO-decision in the first round after two minutes 29 seconds to stretch his unbeaten record to two wins in two fights.
The fight all Alberton boxing fans were waiting for, Zane Mundell from Alberton Sports and Fitness Club and Gymnasium against William Bankisi, ended in big disappointment, with the judges’ split decision against Alberton’s favourite boxing son. The scorecards read: 36-40 and 37-39 against Zane and only one judge 39-37 in Zane’s favour. Against all odds, Zane according to the judges did not do enough to ensure victory. The result could be regarded as controversial, as the tournament promoter Jeff Ellis also held the view that Zane was the best boxer in the ring and shouldn’t be the loser. Jeff Ellis is adamant that Zane can still surprise in the future.
Ekurhuleni’s Stone van Aswegen surprised to beat Willis Baloyi on another split decision. The judges scored the catchweight fight 59-55 and 58-56 in Van Aswegen’s favour, with the third judge’s score 56-58 against the Ekurhuleni boxer.
The heavyweight clash between Martin Makubu from the DRC and Cecil Smith from Gauteng resulted in a TKO for Makubu one minute 12 seconds into the second round, after the Smith camp threw in the towel, when their boxer had suffered enough.
With another Alberton boxer in the ring, Dowayne Combrink from Florentia, the main bout of Thunder Struck was the culmination of the first box and dine of the year at Emperors Palace.
The second box and dine will follow on Wednesday April 23 at Emperors, with Martin Murray featuring at the event. It took Dowayne Combrink in his 11th bout only one minute and 12 seconds to get rid of the more experienced Simon Mokoena, whose record read: 12 wins in 28 fights, 11 defeats and five draw results prior to the bout. Dowayne’s record now reads ten wins in 11 fights after this knockout victory.
