Entertaining title defences at Golden Gloves’ Stand and Deliver
Giovanni Bushby gave the more fancied Dowayne Combrink a tough battle as the two reached a stalemate in the Golden Hands Stand and Deliver event, at Emperors Palace, in the battle for the WBA Pan-African Middleweight title, on Saturday, March 14.
Bushby had Combrink under the cosh several times, delivering devastating blows to the Harold Volbrecht-trainee.
His stamina, however, failed to allow him to land a knockout punch in this absorbing bout.
Combrink began finding his feet and clawed his way back, using his superior hand speed in the middle rounds, but neither fighter managed to deliver the telling blow and the decision went to the judges’ scorecards.
The first two judges scored the fight 116-114 and 115-113, in favour of Combrink and Bushby, respectively, with the last official calling it at 114 apiece, to settle the result as a draw.
This left Bushby’s record at 6-4-2, including five knockouts, with Combrink now at 11-1-1, including seven wins inside the distance.
The two showcased an entertaining clash, that was a strong contender for Fight of the Night, along with the evening’s main event, between Ryno Liebenberg and Tommy Oosthuizen.
Commey gives Mokwana no chance
Champion Richard Commey comfortably defended his Commonwealth Lightweight gong, via a TKO, which finally arrived early in the seventh round.
The Accra native, who boasts a scary professional record, to say the least (21-0; 19 knockouts), was all over the challenger, who required a few stoppages from the referee to catch his breath.
Commey knocked Mokwana down twice in the first round and had his opponent on his backside again in the fourth and fifth, before the referee intervened, giving Commey the inevitable win.
Mokwana dropped to 20-10-1, including 12 knockouts.
Dlamini surrenders to Seroka
Jasper Seroka retained his SA Junior Lightweight belt, against Ashley Dlamini, in a bout that had a somewhat anti-climactic finish.
The champion showed his intentions early on and dominated the opening round with some roundhouse shots, before knocking down Dlamini with a left in the second.
Dlamini held his own in the fourth and fifth, and a fight looked to be on the cards, but he was struggling to deal with the champion’s quick punch combinations.
The champion, from Limpopo, put out a potential fire from Dlamini with a stinging right, which persuaded Dlamini to surrender two minutes, 32 seconds into the round, dropping his record to 16-3, with nine wins inside the distance.
Seroka improved his record to 24-4, with 11 wins inside the distance. – @SabeloBoksburg
