In a rather sad situation Sibusiso Zingange was unable to defend his SA Junior Lightweight title after retiring injured in his championship bout against Lunga Sitemela at ESPN Africa Boxing 17 in Johannesburg, South Africa on Thursday 26 May.
Unfortunately, Zingange dislocated his shoulder in the ninth round and was unable to answer the tenth which handed Sitemela the TKO victory and the title. Up until that point, though, Zingange looked to be edging what was a very tightly contested fight.
Zingange led with his jab from the opening bell and was just quicker to land the telling punches. Sitemela kept up a ruthless pace, but the former champ looked comfortable as he danced around the ring and picked his shots
Bad luck in the ninth saw him throw a left-hand that resulted in his left shoulder dislocating. This left him defenseless and at the mercy of Sitemela. And despite frantic efforts in the corner after the round, to put his shoulder back in place, Zingange simply couldn’t answer the bell to the tenth round.
The loss sees Zingange (17W-6L-2D) unable to defend his title in his first defence while Sitemela (14W-1L-0D) picks up his 14th victory.
Simwaka crowned new IBF Bantamweight champion
The co-main event saw Malawian Ellen Simwaka (10W-5L-2D) crowned the new female IBF Africa Bantamweight champion after beating South African Sharadene Fortuin (13W-2L-1D) via split decision (98-91, 94-95, 95-94) over ten rounds.
The fight was underlined by the relentless pace set by Simwaka as she continuously pushed forward. The Malawian came out swinging and made life difficult for Fortuin who struggled to find her rhythm.
The South African, however, did not back down and let her fists fly as well. To be frank, the first four rounds was a slugfest with neither fighter giving an inch.
The middle rounds saw Fortuin box smarter as she moved around the ring and chose her shots. Still, Simwaka would not let up and she seemed to find an extra gear in the latter rounds.
In the ninth a straight right from the Malawian put Fortuin on the deck. She answered the count, but that knockdown made the difference on the scorecards.
Ngoy beats Cele in slugfest
The main card opened with a scintillating Welterweight bout, and arguably the fight on the night, with DRC’s Lence Ngoy (3W-1L-0L) beating South Africa’s Phumelele Cele (1W-1L-0D) via split decision (38-37, 36-40, 38-37) over four rounds.
The fight started with Cele unloading massive left-hooks which landed on regular occasion, but Ngoy showed true grit as he took punch-after-punch.
It was more of the same in the second, but all changed in the third when a right-hand from Ngoy sent the South African to the canvas. Cele quickly popped back to his feet, but he was on the floor again for the second time in the round after a powerful left-hook from Ngoy. To his credit, Cele got back up and finished the round.
The fourth saw Ngoy keep up the pressure and he deservedly earned the third win of his career while Cele suffered his first professional loss.
Rossouw clinical in victory
The second bout on the main card saw Darren Rossouw (5W-0L-0D) produce a clinical performance, as he convincingly beat DRC’s Welcome Malumbu (0W-5L-0D) via unanimous decision (59-55, 60-55, 60-58) in their Junior Middleweight fight over six rounds.
Rossouw was very measured in his approach and used his jab to control the fight. The South African constantly put Malumbu on the back foot with quick combinations as he maintained his unbeaten record.
Magnificent Mukala with TKO win
The third bout on the main card was a display of world-class boxing from DRC’s Patrick Mukala (13W-2L-1D) who stopped his fellow countryman Jimmy Mabundji (13W-6L-0D) in the third round of their Super Middleweight fight.
Mukala dominated from the opening bell with his magnificent left-hand leading the way as he landed jab-after-jab-after-jab. Mabundji had no answer and was lucky to make it through the first two rounds.
In the third Mukala threw a devastating right-hook which sent his opponent to the canvas. Mabundji got up but Mukala was quickly on him again, sending the former stumbling thanks to some thunderous straight rights. Mabundji’s corner saw the writing on the wall and threw in the towel two minutes and 46 seconds into the round.
Undercard:
The only bout on the undercard was an entertaining affair with Lopez Maluleke (2W-0L-1D) beating Koena Mokoena (1W-1L-1D) via unanimous decision (39-37, 40-36, 40-36) in their Junior Bantamweight fight over four rounds.
Maluleke was just faster to the punch and landed more clean shots than his opponent as he maintained his undefeated record. The loss for Mokoena is the first of his career.
Main Card results:
- Lence Ngoy wins by split decision over Phumelele Cele (38-37, 36-40, 38-37)
- Darren Rossouw wins by unanimous decision over Welcome Malumbu (59-55, 60-55, 60-58)
- Patrick Mukala wins by TKO over Jimmy Mabundji (2 min, 46 sec in round 3)
- Ellen Simwaka wins by split decision over Sharadene Fortuin (98-91, 94-95, 95-94)
- Lunga Sitemela wins by TKO over Sibusiso Zingange (round 10)
Undercard results:
- Lopez Maluleke wins by unanimous decision over Koena Mokoena (39-37, 40-36, 40-36)