It was a brilliant performance from the first until the last gong as Sibusiso Zingange dethroned South African junior-lightweight champion Phila Mpontshane at the EFC Centre in Johannesburg on Thursday evening.
Zingange from Boksburg showed Mpontshane no respect and the judges’ score cards bore testimony to that. The new champion lived up to his pre-fight promise when he boldly stated that he was going to dethrone Mpontshane.
All three judges gave Zingange the nod following an impressive performance, which saw him decking Mpontshane in the seventh round. Pumeza Zinakile’s score card read 120-109, David van Niewenhuizen scored it 118-109 while Simon Mokadi had Zingange winning by 120-109.
So brilliant was the 29-year-old Zingange during the fight that there were moments when he toyed with Mpontshane much to the joy of his supporters from Ramaphosa informal settlement in Boksburg.
Meanwhile, Simangele ‘Smash’ Hadebe put up a dominant performance on her way to scoring a unanimous points win over Halima Vunjabei from Tanzania.
As a result of the win, Hadebe became the new African Boxing Union (ABU) female flyweight champion. Hadebe is also the SA female flyweight title holder.
Other results:
Darrin Rossouw beat Thembani Mhlanga by a sixth round technical knockout
Sithembiso Maduna defeated Abdul-Aziz Kunert by a split decision
Gift Bholo beat Dennis Mwale by a split decision
