MADIBA MAGIC BIRTHDAY BOXING BOUTS
And Mvula wins in fourth round against Cape Town opponent Yulle
Ringside analysis and pictures up close
Ayanda Ndulani exacted his revenge when he outsmarted Xolisa Magusha to lift the ABU mini-flyweight title at the Orient Theatre Sunday.
Ndulani whose only loss in 12 bouts had been to Magusha refused to brawl with the free swinging foe.
While the fight was initially billed to feature Magusha's SA title it was the continental belt at stake.
Magusha, who had been struggling with his weight throughout the week, was ineffective despite being the aggressor.
He followed Ndulani around while enduring some wicked shots in return.
Things moved from bad to worse for Magusha when he was counted in the seventh round although the punch looked like a slip.
This made him even more desperate as he wanted to land one haymaker to end the fight.
This made him to play right into Ndulani's hands who picked him apart as he continued to attack.
Going into the last round he needed a knockout to win. But he did not show any urgency to save the fight as he fought in the same pattern which had cost him in the previous rounds.
Instead it was Ndulani who finished strongly, landing big blows and he managed to wobble Magusha. All the judges had Ndulani winning the fight by scores of 116-111 across the board.
The win erased Ndulani's disappointing loss by stoppage to Magusha in March last year. He had protested the loss while chasing a rematch but had to start afresh to earn the return fight.
For Magusha the loss marked a second loss in a row after losing to Deejay Kriel in April.
Against Ndulani he was onedimensional looking to end the fight with one punch and when that did not work he had no plan B. He will be well advised to move up a weight as he was ineffective throughout the fight although he will need to regain his punch due to his short frame.
He can still take consolation that his SA title was not at stake giving him something to fall back on although it will be another mammoth task for him to squeeze down to 47kg.
Other bouts in the tournament saw former national junior bantamweight champion Siphosethu Mvula cruising to a comfortable points lead against visiting Cape Town opponent Dillon Yulle before closing the show with a perfectly placed shot to the solar plexus in the fourth round of their lightweight duel.
Looking comfortable in the lightweight division Mvula took his time and even allowed Yulle to tee off with his own shots while countering well.
After wobbling Yulle to the ropes, he unleashed a barrage of blows with the visitor retaliating to turn the bout into a toe-to-toe exchange. One of Mvula' s shot strayed downstairs and connected on the solar plexus to leave Yulle gasping for air while he was being counted. But he mistimed the count by getting up when the referee had reached 10.
Other results Sivenathi Nontshinga TKO5 Nwabisile Cholani (junior fly); Asanda Gingqi TKO 2 Anele Ntsondo (feather); Xolisile Voyi TKO 4 Lebohang Pilane (fly).