Knockouts and evasive action in the cage

AN ENTHUSIASTIC Cape Town crowd attended the cagefighting event EFC 39 in Cape Town last night.

Spectators at the venue, GrandWest, were heavy knockouts and three-round wars.

Heavyweight Andrew “One Gear” van Zyl put in a dream performance by scoring a spectacular one-punch KO over East London’s Brendon Groenewald to reclaim the heavyweight title.

The two began at a blistering pace, exchanging massive punches that came to an end when Van Zyl connected with a left-right combo that sent Groenewald to the canvas after only 32 seconds. Never one to mince his words, Van Zyl said in a post-fight interview: “I came to throw punches and that is exactly what I did.”

Cape Town’s Gideon “Juggernaut” Drotschie faced Tumelo “The Truck” Maphutha, with the prospect of a light heavyweight title shot against Norman “Chef” Wessels for the winner. Drotschie’s game plan seemed to be to stay out of Maphutha’s range and pick off his opponent. With a gun-shy Maphutha at the other end, this resulted in a less than spectacular showpiece from both fighters.

The bout ended with a majority decision win for Drotschie and an audibly disappointed crowd registering its disgust.

Such was the disappointment of the spectacle that EFC president Cairo Howarth retracted the title shot at the postevent press conference, and handed it to Champion Dalcha. “That was not the fight the fans paid to see,” Howarth said

“Neither of you deserve to fight for the title right now.

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