Tragedy strikes Fight Night
Changes occurred in the line-up due to the South African Airways cabin crew strike.
The second battle event in the newly launched pan-African boxing series, Friday Fight Nights, dubbed the Big Top Beat Down, took place in the Big Top Arena at Carnival City on the night of Friday, April 28.
Changes occurred in the line-up due to the South African Airways cabin crew strike.
Read: SAA cabin crew strike over meals
Bernard Adie from Kenya, who was set to meet Ruann Visser for the vacant ABU heavyweight championship, could not make it and was replaced by Cape Town-based DRC Boxer, Kilola Lubika Didier (known as “Knife”).
Originally, Lubika was matched with Osbourne Machimani in one five-rounder, but Sithembile August from Port Elizabeth stepped in as a late replacement to meet Machimani.
Cruiserweight Amour Mzungu from Tanzania was also unable to secure a flight due to the strike action.
He was scheduled to compete against Ilunga Makabu Junior in a 10-round contest.
The Cape Town-based Zimbabwean cruiserweight Sting Gonorenda stepped in to replace Mzungu and gave an excellent showing.
The four-round cruiserweight bout between Chris Thompson and Cristian Okeke was called off at the weigh-in.
Okeke came in well underneath the cruiserweight weight indications and limits and, for the safety of the boxers, the bout was abandoned.
Tragedy struck when, sadly, Botswana’s Herbert Nkabiti was rushed to hospital after being knocked out by Willers Baloyi.
Late in the sixth and final round, Baloyi landed a flurry of punches.
Nkabiti went down and was counted out.
The 36-year-old passed away on Saturday night, April 29 at the Sunward Park Hospital in Boksburg.
The organisers expressed their condolences to his family and friends.
Results from the tournament are:
• 12-round ABU (SADC) Heavyweight Championship bout: Ruann Visser beat Likola Lubika Didier by knock-out in the fourth round,
• 12-round vacant ABU (SADC) Light Heavyweight Championship bout: Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen beat Said Mbelwa of Tanzania by knock-out in the fifth round.
• 10-round international cruiserweight bout: Ilunga Makabu Junior (Democratic Republic of Congo) beat Sting Gonorenda (Tanzania) by knock-out in the fifth round.
• Six-round international super middleweight bout: Renson Hobyani (South Africa) beat Fiston Kabamba (Democratic Republic of Congo) after six rounds.
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