Nail-biting affair as Chauke defends SA Flyweight title

The main event at ESPN Africa Boxing 21 produced a nail-biting affair as Jackson Chauke successfully defended his South African Flyweight title against Sinethembu Kotana in Johannesburg on Thursday 22 September. It was a 12-round war with the champion earning a unanimous decision win (118-110, 116-114, 116-112), successfully defending his title for the fifth time. The triumph puts his professional fight record at 22 wins, one loss and two draws while Kotana moves to eight wins, two losses and two draws.

The fight was close from the opening bell with neither boxer dominating the early rounds. The champ, though, started to pick up the pace from round three and won the middle rounds thanks to his high work-rate and combinations. Kotana, however, did not take it lying down and bounced back with some devasting left-hooks to the body to win rounds eight through nine.

The last three rounds are where the real championship quality started to shine through with Chauke continuously pushing forward and throwing more punches, which earned him the victory against his former sparring partner. Speaking after the fight, Chauke admitted it was a hard battle: “It was tough, but I did what I had to. No matter how I win, as long as I win. It was a good fight. We used to be on the same side, now we are on different sides, but no hard feelings. We were good at beating up each other.”

NYANGANI WINS EVERY ROUND IN SOUTH AFRICAN MINI-FLYWEIGHT TITLE DEFENCE

The co-main event saw Bangile Nyangani (13-1-1) comfortably defend his South African Mini-Flyweight title with a unanimous decision win (119-109, 119-109, 120-108) over Gaveni Nkwenteni (6-4-1) in their 12-round bout. The champion put on an impressive display, winning every single round thanks to his majestic movement and pin-point combinations.

The fight may have started a little slowly, but Nyangani quickly picked up the pace in the second round and it was all him from there on out, scoring at will with a horde of different shots. Nkwenteni had no answer for his opponent and looked out of his depth as he suffered the fourth loss of his career.

ROSSOUW PUNISHES SCHULTZ

The main card opened with a TKO win for Darrin Rossouw (6-0-0) over Sheldon Schultz (4-4-0) when the referee called off the fight at the start of the fifth round in the Junior Middleweight contest

Rossouw simply had the better technique and picked his shots at will. Schultz showed true grit to battle his way to the end of the fourth round, but he couldn’t answer the fifth round due to the consistent punishment.

DOMINANT PERFORMANCE FROM MUKALA

The second bout on the main card saw DRC’s Patrick Mukala (13-2-1) with a dominant performance, earning a third round TKO win over Malawi’s Simion Tchetha (12-6-1) in their International Super Middleweight contest.

The man from DRC looked extremely comfortable from the opening bell and used his jab and stinging straight right to put himself on the front foot. Tchetha simply had no answer for Mukala’s superior boxing skills, and the referee rightfully stopped the fight one minute and 55 seconds into round three.

SAD RETURN FOR CAMPBELL

The third bout on the main card saw a sad return to the ring for Rowen Campbell (12-2-0) who suffered a unanimous decision loss (79-70, 76-73, 78-74) to Luvuyo Sizani (7-0-0) in their Light Heavyweight clash over eight rounds. It was Campbell’s first outing in the squared ring for over 18 months. To his credit, though, the former South African light heavyweight champion started well, moving nicely and landing some picturesque straight right-hands in the first three rounds.

The tide turned in the fourth when a devasting straight left from Sizani put Campbell on his bum midway through the round. The latter answered the count and continued to grind it out, but he was on the canvas again in the seventh after another stunning left from Sizani. Again, Campbell got up, but the writing was on the wall as Sizani maintained his undefeated record with the seventh win of his career.

UNDERCARD:

The first bout on the undercard saw Cayden Truter (6-0-0) earn a fifth round TKO win over Nkululeko Mdletshe (0-1-1) in their Junior Lightweight contest. Truter landed the more telling punches from the onset and continuously punished Mdletshe with his crisp strikes. In the fifth, Mdletshe’s corner had seen enough and threw in the towel two minutes and 50 seconds into the round.

The second bout on the undercard saw DRC’s Lence Ngoy (4-1-0) earn a majority decision win (57-57, 59-58, 58-56) over South African Ntethelelo Nkosi (4-2-0) in their Junior Welterweight contest

over six rounds. It was an entertaining affair as both fighters stood toe-to-toe and slugged it out. In the end, Ngoy just landed the cleaner punches to pick up the fourth win of his career.

MAIN CARD RESULTS:

- Darrin Rossouw wins by TKO over Sheldon Schultz (failed to answer round 5)

- Patrick Mukala wins by TKO over Simion Tchetha (1 min, 55 sec in round 3)

- Luvuyo Sizani wins by unanimous decision over Rowen Campbell (79-70, 76-73, 78-74)

- Bangile Nyangani wins by unanimous decision over Gaveni Nkwenteni (119-109, 119-109)

- Jackson Chauke wins by unanimous decision over Sinethembu Kotana (118-110, 116-114, 116-112)

UNDERCARD RESULTS:

- Cayden Truter wins by TKO over Nkululeko Mdletshe (2 min, 50 sec in round 5)

- Lence Ngoy wins by majority decision over Ntethelelo Nkosi (57-57, 59-58, 58-56)