When a puncher beats a boxer

IN the WBA Pan African/South African Cruiserweight titles it is just a question of who wants the titles the most.

The boxer who wins the titles will have the opportunity to fight the highly rated Roberto Bolonti from Argentina and the loser will take on the undefeated Danish boxer, Micki Nielsen on Saturday, June 11.

Brawl For It All boxing development tournament was held on Sunday, April 23 at Emperors Palace staged by African Ring in conjunction with Golden Gloves promotions.

The whole concept of development boxing and the family get-together has found its way back into the hearts of the boxing fraternity. If one had any question if this is a winning combination then it should be put aside as the fans made their way to a great spectacle of boxing on Sunday afternoon.

Of course the pugilist would say that the drawing card was the Johnny Muller vs Kevin Lerena WBA Pan African/SA Cruiserweight fight. And yes, it had all the right marks for being a tip-top fight of calibre.

Lerena had made his intention quite clear already at the press conferences and weigh-in and on fight day he put words into action. Lerena is now the WBA Pan African/SA Cruiserweight title-holder after he beat Muller by TKO in the 10th round of their allotted 12-round bout.

From round one the big puncher from out the Smith stable constantly wobbled Muller, who reigns from a clear-cut technical boxing background. At times it looked as if Muller found his ground and came back strongly to avoid the impossible surrendering of his dreams to his opposition and even with the one of the best trainers in the country, Harold Volbrecht, they had no counterattack for fighting fit Lerena. Under heavy fire from Lerena, Muller’s defence let him down as he was floored on two occasions. The first seemed to be a slip, but he faced the count. At the end it was once again Muller’s suspect soft chin that gave him away and he went to the canvas. Muller was brought down by a fast combination of blows 30 seconds into the 10th round by Lerena, which saw him down on the canvas trying to capture what just happened. Through excitement in the Lerena corner, referee Jaap van Niewenhuizen could not give the full count to Muller as the ring was flooded by Lerena’s corner and he was robbed from a knockout count. Instead Lerena’s record will show that he won by TKO against his rival Muller.

To kick off the proceedings of the afternoon’s development boxing Joshua Ndou and John Bobape faced each other in the junior middleweight bout over four rounds. Bobape won by TKO in the first round 2:15.

The junior-welterweight bout saw Sterling Shaw winning by TKO in the fourth round 2:41 against Tumi Nakedi. Shaw pulled an unsportsmanlike gesture when he apologised to Nakedi giving him a left hand tick of the glove and then immediately followed up with a right hand blow to his face. This might just catch up with him in future.

In the bantamweight division over four rounds Ronald Malindi won his bout against Ronnie Chiloane on points 39/37, 39/37, 38/38.

The first boxer to come out of the development phase of the Golden Palace Boxing club, initiated by Golden Gloves Promotions and Emperors Palace, Lucky Mongebane| was given the chance to show his skills in front of a full-capacity crowd at the tournament. He fought Siphesihle Hadebe in the junior-lightweight division. He won by TKO in the first round 2:15. Unfortunately this was not a dream appearance for him as his opposition was clowning around and one often wonders how it happens that such a boxer receives a professional licence. Mongebane will have to wait for another chance to showcase his talents.

Up-and-coming Joshua Studdard kept his winning ways when he beat Sihle Jwelane by TKO in the third round 1:36.

In the minimumweight division Deejay Kriel and Ayanda Dulani had a draw over six rounds 57/57, 58/56, 56/58.