Miguel Acosta of Venezuela became the new WBA lightweight champion of the world when he knocked out Namibia’s Paulus “The Hitman” Moses in the sixth round on Saturday night. Acosta felled Moses with a great right hook to the chin that saw him crash to the canvas. Moses managed to sit up but could not get up, as the referee counted him out on the canvas.
The end came suddenly and left the Namibian fans shocked into silence while Acosta celebrated wildly as his Venezuelan helpers lifted their new world champion onto their shoulders and paraded him around the ring.
Acosta was the busier boxer from the start, taking the fight to Moses with snappy jabs and combinations.
Moses was more subdued, eyeing his opponent out, but in the second round he drew a big cheer from the crowd with a sharp left hook. Acosta was however the busier boxer and continued attacking with combinations to Moses’ head and body.
Sensing that Acosta was leading on points, the crowd started chanting the Hitman’s name in the third round and he obliged with a sharp flurry of combinations, although Acosta was still doing most of the attacking.
The fourth round was a cracker, as Acosta shocked Moses early on with a hook that saw him stagger into the ropes, but Moses recovered well and started asserting himself with his sharp jab. Towards the end of the round Moses landed some quick combinations to Acosta’s head that had the challenger in a spot of bother.
Moses stunned Acosta early in round five with a sharp left hook, but the challenger came back, pushing forward relentlessly with his combinations to Moses’ head and body. At the end of the round he put Moses down but the referee ruled that it was a slip.
Acosta started finding the target, especially on the ropes, where he pummelled away at Moses, who tried to defend and wait for a counterattack.
The end came suddenly when Acosta felled Moses with a sharp right hook that put the Namibian down and out for the count of ten.
It was Moses’ first defeat in 27 pro fights, while Acosta’s record now stands at 27 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws.
Uushona retains WBO African welterweight title
In the main supporting bout Tyson Uushona displayed great courage and endurance to retain his WBO African welterweight title against Philip Kotey of Ghana.
Kotey had a longer reach and regularly found the target with his jab, but Uushona did most of the attacking and landed more powerful blows.
By the eighth round Uushona was well ahead on points as he regularly landed sharp combinations on the counterattack.
The fight took a dramatic turn in the ninth round when the boxers clashed heads which left Uushona with a huge welt on his right cheek. Uushona dropped his guard and waved to the referee to step in but Kotey took advantage and went in for the kill, trying to knock Uushona out. Uushona however managed to hold on and see out the round.
Uushona finished stronger over the final three rounds and easily won the fight on points, with the three judges scoring the fight 119-108, 118-109, 116-111 in his favour.
Uushona is now unbeaten after 21 pro fights while Kotey has a record of 20 wins, 5 defeats and one draw.
Ambunda retains WBO African bantamweight title
Paulus Ambunda retained his WBO African bantamweight title with a powerful display against Sipho Nkadimeng of South Africa.
Ambunda started landing his powerful hooks early on, but the challenger showed tremendous courage and stamina to take his best blows.
By the third round, however, Ambunda had opened up a cut on Nkadimeng’s left cheek and the fight was momentarily stopped for the ring doctor to inspect the damage. He allowed the fight to continue but more punishment came Nkadimeng’s way.
By the fifth round he took a standing eight count and by the sixth Ambunda knocked him down for the count of eight.
By the eighth round Ambunda had opened a deep gash over Nkadimeng’s right eye but the South African battled on bravely to see out the eight round fight.
Ambunda was a comfortable victor, winning the fight 80-70 on all three judges’ scorecards. He is now unbeaten after 12 fights while Nkadimeng’s record reads nine wins and five defeats.
The other results were as follows:
Lightweight fight over four rounds:
Julius Indongo beat Samuel Kapapu on a unanimous points decision, 40-36, 40-36, 40-36.
Bantamweight fight over four rounds:
Immanuel Naidjala beat Tinashe Mutota of Zimbabwe with a second round knockout.
Lightweight fight over four rounds:
Peter Malakia beat Lawrence Moyo of Zimbabwe on a majority points decision, 39-39, 40-37, 39-37.
Flyweight Commonwealth title eliminator:
Abmerk Shindjuu beat Juma Fundi of Tanzania with a fourth round knockout.