The jury is out on whether Azinga ‘Golden Boy’ Fuzile’s bout against Asanda ‘Dynamite’ Gingqi, which was held at the Orient Theatre in KuGompo City on Friday evening, lived up to the pre-fight hype.
However, one thing for sure is that this fight showed a lot about the two boxers even though Fuzile emerged victorious via a majority decision after Siphiwe Mbini’s scorecard read 98-93 and Lulama Mtya got the Duncan Village-born former South African featherweight champion winning by 97-94 while Thandi Ngodwana scored it 95-95.
If there’s anyone who, before the fight, thought that Gingqi was going to be more like a lamb to the slaughter, then that person got it all wrong as the Mdantsane boxer gave as much as he got throughout the clash.
On the other hand, a lot was expected from Fuzile because of his international experience, but Gingqi showed that he was in the ring to fight and fight he did.
In another fight, there was no winner in the vacant International Boxing Federation (IBF) Intercontinental junior-bantamweight title contest as Moyisi Booi drew with Argentine boxer David Nunez.
Zimbabwean judge Patrick Mukondiwa’s scorecard read 95-94, Namibian Patrick Esterhuizen 93-95 and Pumeza Zinakile 95-95.
In another fight, Gcobani Mdeliswa became the new Eastern Cape junior-flyweight champion after he dethroned Athenkosi Thongwana with an eighth round stoppage.
Meanwhile, Ardy Katompa from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) defeated SA junior-featherweight champion Siyabulela Hem, who failed to answer to the bell at the beginning of the 10th round.
Katompa put Hem under immense pressure from the first gong until the end of the ninth round. It was then no wonder that Hem failed to to answer to the bell signalling the beginning of the last round.
