Tyson Uushona beat Tommy Hango on a unanimous points decision to retain his WBO African weltwerweight title at the Independence Celebrations Boxing Bonanza on Saturday night.
In an explosive bout both boxers gave their all and had the packed hall of fans cheering on wildly as they slugged it out over 12 rounds. In the end Uushona won convincingly with the three judges scoring the fight 119-109, 118-109 and 118-109 in his favour.
The fight was however much closer than the scoreline suggests, with Hango taking the fight to Uushona from the start and impressing with his high work rate. Uushona, however, fought a good tactical fight and scored most of his points with sharp combinations on the counterattack.
In the main supporting bout Vikapita Meroro became the new WBO African light heavyweight champion when he knocked out Douglas Otieno of Kenya in the 11th round of their 12 round fight.
Otieno was a tough customer, giving as good as he got, but Meroro dominated from the start and was ahead on points when the end came. He put him down with a right hook and some sharp combinations on the ropes as Otieno sank to his knees.
Paulus Ambunda was in terrific form as he beat Sithembele Kibiti of South Africa on a first round knock out in a bantamweight fight. Ambunda put Kibiti down with a terrific right and although the South African tried to get u, he immediately sunk down again as the referee counted him out.
Sackey Shikukutu showed tremendous courage as he beat Bhekimpilo Mlilo of Zimbabwe on points in a junior welterweight fight.
Shikukutu raked in the points with his powerful blows early on but Mlilo was a tough customer and took Shikukutu’s blows while landing some of his own.
In the sixth and final round Shikukutu dislocated his shoulder when he went for a wild swing and although Mlilo was all over him, trying to land the knock out punch, Shikukutu showed tremendous bravery to fight on until the end of the round.
Shikukutu won the fight on all three judges’ scorecards, 59-55, 58-56, 59-55.
The other results were as follows:
Gotlieb Ndokosho beat Abraham Ndaendapo on a majority decision to win the Junior Lightweight National title. One judge scored the fight a draw while the other two scored it 97-93 and 98-92 in Ndokosho’s favour.
Peter Malakia beat Samuel Kapapu on unanimous decision in a lightweight fight over six rounds as all three the judges scored it 59-54 in his favour.
Immanuel Naidjala beat Mxolisi Nombewu of South Africa with a first round knockout in their bantamweight fight.
Tapiwa Tembo of Zimbabwe beat Matheus Kaandala on a unanimous points decision in a junior featherweight fight over four rounds with two judges scoring it 39-37 and a third 10-36 in Tembo’s favour.
In a lightweight fight over four rounds Julius Indongo beat Festus Nghidinwa on a majority decision. One judge scored the fight a draw and the two other scored it 40-35 in Indongo’s favour.