Paulus Ambunda retained his WBO African bantamweight title with a points victory over 12 rounds against South Africa’s Klaas Mboyane but he had to dig deep and was pushed all the way by his tough opponent. In the end the three judges all gave Ambunda a comfortable victory (19-109, 120-109, 119-109) but the fight was much closer than the scoring suggested.
For once, Ambunda’s powerful right hand did not have much effect on his opponent as he was pushed to 12 rounds, but Ambunda displayed supreme fitness to maintain a high workrate throughout.
Mboyane took the fight to Ambunda from the start, throwing sharp jabs and quick left and right combinations. Ambunda’s shots were more powerful, but his attack was a bit one dimensional, as he tried to land his big right hook with wild swings that often missed.
By the fourth round, some of Ambunda’s heavy hooks started to land, bringing the crowd to its feet and shouting for more, but Mboyane recovered and responded with sharp combinations, drawing blood from Ambunda’s nose.
Ambunda was however supremely fit and stepped up the tempo and by the eighth round pummeled away at Mboyane on the ropes. Once again the South African recovered quickly and the two boxers slugged it out on the ropes at the end of the round.
Ambunda shaded the latter rounds, pushing the tempo and landing some big hooks, but Mboyane gave as good as he got, replying with jabs and combinations till the end.
Shihepo back with a bang
Wilbeforce Shihepo made a successful comeback after a layoff of about two years by knocking Innocent Kamaushi of Zambia out in the fourth round of their Super Middleweight encounter.
Shihepo made up for lost time by laying into Kamaushi from the start with his powerful hooks and dominated the fight from the outset.
The shorter Zambian surprised Shihepo with a quick two-fisted counterattack in the second round but Shihepo once again took control, landing hooks to the head and body.
His big blows started taking effect and the end came swiftly in the fourth round when he poleaxed Kamaushi with a huge uppercut, sending him crashing to the canvas.
Shihepo’s pro record now stands at 21 wins, 4 losses and one draw while Kamaushi’s record is 11 wins and 2 losses.
Hango beats Donga
In a welterweight encounter, Tommy Hango beat Modecai Donga of Zimbabwe with a unanimous points victory over six rounds.
Hango set the pace from the start with a high workrate but the experienced Donga managed to slow the fight down by hanging on in the close encounters.
Hango managed to land some big blows, rocking Donga with a powerful left hook in the fifth round, but the Zimbabwean used all of his experience to hang on and slow the fight down and in the end it was not much of a spectacle.
Hango won the fight unanimously, with the three judges scoring 59-55, 58-56, 58-56 in his favour. Hango’s record now stands at 10 wins and 3 losses, while Donga’s record is 13 wins and 7 losses.
Malakia, Moyo draw
In a closely-contested bantamweight encounter, Peter Malakia and Lawrence Moyo battled it out to a draw after four rounds.
Both boxers gave it as good as they got and in the end one judge scored it 40-38 for Malakia and the other 39-37 for Moyo, while the third had the boxers equal at 38-38.
Malakia’s record now stands at 6 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses, while Moyo’s record is 5 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses.
Naidjala remains unbeaten
Immanuel Naidjala maintained his unbeaten record with a superb display of speed and power against Alfred Kashiri of Zimbabwe in a bantamweight fight.
Naidjala used his speed to great effect, landing sharp jabs and moving out quickly, making Kashiri miss most of the time.
The end came soon in the second round, when he knocked Kashiri out with a quick right hook after only 49 seconds.
It was Naidjala’s sixth straight win as a pro, while Kashiri’s record now stands at 3 wins and 3 losses.
Jaarman beats Mandume
Upcoming welterweight fighter Anthony Jaarman scored his second successive victory with a unanimous points victory over Pohamba Mandume.
Jaarman used his jab to good effect, as well as some good two-fisted combinations, while Mandume was too wild, swinging wildly, but missing most of the time. Mandume’s record now stands at 3 losses and 1 win.
Kalenga beats Frans
In a 57,15kg catchweight fight between two boxers making their pro debut, Erick Kalenga beat Nilo Frans on a unanimous points decision over four rounds, with the judges scoring it 40-35, 38-37, 38-37 in his favour.