Muller, affectionately known as The Hurricane, edged out the Pole in their cruiserweight 10-round slugfest, at Emperors Palace, on Saturday, June 6, in a bout that never lacked action.
The clash was a worthy headlining act following its replacement of the Tommy Oosthuizen vs Robert Berridge bout, which had been demoted to the tournament’s undercard.
The 24-year-old Hammer Gym (in Boksburg) trainee is known to tend to feature in titanic battles and this one is right up there with his past classics against the likes of Wilbeforce ”Black Mamba” Shihepo and Kevin ”KO Kid” Lerena.
Muller twice landed on the canvas, first, debatably, when he seemingly lost his footing, but the second time was convincing.
He went down for a count in the fifth round, after sustaining a cut above his left eye in the fourth, but, in typical Muller fashion, he refused to stay down.
The two slugged it out in the middle rounds, with neither prepared to back down.
Masternek, however, had the South African reeling in the seventh, from a pure strike which floored Muller for the second time – but again Muller refused to stay down.
With both boxers determined not to lose, only the scorecard could separate them.
The bout, which could easily have gone either way, was scored 95-93 on two cards, in favour of the South African, and 95-93 on the third card, in favour of Masternek, who fell to 35-3; 25.
Muller improved his professional record to 18-4-2 and 13 wins inside the distance.
q Roman floors Jako
Promising Kazakhstan boxer Roman Zhailauv will probably never have an easier win than this one.
The Harold Volbrecht protégé knocked out opponent Luyanda Jako without breaking a sweat, after two minutes, 34 seconds, of the first round to win their welterweight bout.
Roman, who was making his South African debut, made quick work of improving his record to an impressive 15-0, including nine knockouts, while Jako dropped to 9-10; 2.
q Other results:
Xolisani Ndongeni defeated Mzonke Fana via majority decision for the WBA Pan African Title. – @SabeloBoksburg
