After he survived a scare when he was decked in the first round, Ricardo ‘Magic Man’ Malajika scored a unanimous points victory over a game Filipino boxer Vince Paras at the Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, on Saturday evening.
All three judges nodded in agreement saying that Malajika had done enough to make the fourth successful defence of his International Boxing Organisation (IBO) title.
John Shipanuka from Lusaka in Zambia had Malajika winning by 117-110, Zimbabwean judge Patrick Mukondiwa scored the fight 115-112 and East Londoner Allen Matakane’s scorecard read 116-111.
Before meeting Paras, Malajika had stopped his last three opponents and the expectations were high that he was going to do the same to the Filipino. However, Paras proved to all and sundry that he came to South Africa to fight and fight he did as his big right hand nearly caused more trouble for Malajika.
In another much-anticipated duel, South African middleweight champion Phikelelani ‘Stinger’ Khumalo added the African Boxing Union (ABU) title after he stopped DonJuan van Heerden in the first round.
Khumalo, a former football player, made light work of Van Heerden, who had failed to make required weight on Friday, stopping him in less than two minutes.
Meanwhile, Roarke Knapp will face off against Brandon Thysse in the final of the money-spinning junior-middleweight ‘Survivor’ series early next year.
Knapp reached the final after Botswana national Kagiso Bagwasi failed to respond to the bell at the beginning of the fifth round. And Thysse scored a unanimous points decision victory over Shervantaigh Koopman.
Other results:
Ethan Peters defeated Sibabalwe Mnani by first round knockout
Juan Alberts beat Michael Pirotton by a unanimous points decision
