By Lwazi Ndzobongo. Thabiso Mchunu (13-1) beat Danie Venter (15-5) via
5th round knockout to win the vacant ABU Cruiserweight Title and the
Cruiserweight Super 8 tournament. The stoppage came at 1 minutes 52
seconds into the fifth round.
This was Mchunu’s second time beating Venter here at Emperors Palace, east of Johannesburg.
Their 1st encounter went the distance but last night Mchunu made sure everyone knew who the better boxer was.
The 1st round was a slow one, with the random straight left from
Mchunu but generally the jabs were in charge. The 2nd started pretty
much like the 1st, Mchunu was still able to land his straight left,
Venter was throwing more and the action was heating up with a few
exchanges from both boxers.
Mchunu was using Mayweather like defence in the 3rd round, slipping
Venter’s punches and landing his left hand. Mchunu was fighting a smart
fight, using his hand speed effectively. Venter was moving forward,
pressuring Mchunu in the 4th when he ran into a right hook that shook
him. Mchunu later landed a big left hand that had Venter in trouble,
they exchanged punches with Mchunu getting the better of Venter, who
came out with a bloody nose for his troubles.
A right left combination had Venter down in the 1st 30 seconds of the
5th round. Venter was hurt and when a right hook landed, it sent him
back to the canvass for another standing eight count. The end happened
soon after, Venter was attacking when he got caught by a straight left
that sent him to the canvass for the 3rd and final time.
A brilliant performance for Mchunu, a real future South African super star.
Tommy Oosthuizen (21-0-1) beat Fulgencio Zuniga (25-6-1) to retain
his IBO super middleweight title via unanimous points decision over 12
rounds. The judges scored it 120-108 and 119-109 twice.
It was Oosthuizen’s 6th defense of his title and he is tipped to top a
bill at Madison square garden in January 2013. Oosthuizen took care of
business last night, out boxing Zuniga for all 12 rounds. Oosthuizen
struggled to make weight for the fight and boxing observers were worried
this would affect his performance but it didn’t as he controlled the
action and was too good for Zuniga.
He used his speed, long reach and superb skills to out wit Zuniga. A
polished performance by Oosthuizen, with only his defense that could be
questioned, he takes too many unnecessary punches and could run into
trouble in the future.
Gideon Buthelezi (13-3) beat Edrin Dapudong (27-6) for the vacant IBO
junior bantamweight title. The judges scores were 115-112, 115-113 and
113-114. Buthelezi used all his skills to get past Dapudong who was
consistently putting pressure and throwing punches. Buthelezi was
bleeding from the nose as early as the 2nd round, his eyes and face were
puffy and he also visited the canvass in the 9th from a left hook.
Buthelezi went on to finish the championship rounds stronger and got the close decision.
Other results:
Ryno Liebenberg bt Donald Kampamba, TKO Rnd 9; IBO All Africa.
Light Heavyweight Title Allan Bouwer bt Vusi Bilankulu, MD 4 Rnds; Junior Welterweight.
SecondsOut.com to Doghouse Boxing.