Sigqibo made to dig deep for his WBC title
Yanga Sigqibo got a taste of what it means to campaign at international level when he was made to work hard for his WBC International junior bantamweight title win over Filipino Rene Dacquel.
The fight at East London ICC on Friday was among the bouts featured in the Xaba Promotions tournament celebrating Nelson Mandela's birthday through boxing.
Leading up to the tournament there had been doubts as to whether it would go ahead as the Buffalo City Metro council did not approve to fund it with R3.4-million.
Fighting for the second time in the event after he was featured in its fourth edition last year when he beat Mfundo Gwayana, Sigqibo took a quantum leap on the international platform and emerged victorious albeit with some tough moments.
The first was when he was floored in the second round by a bowling-like right hand.
But the 24-year-old regrouped and began to find success with some nippy boxing.
Using his jab, he seemed to have overcome the knockdown until another setback struck – when he was docked a point for excessive holding which set him back on the points tally again.
But in the end, two of the judges awarded him the decision via scores of 115-111 and 114-112.
The third judge saw him losing by a 117-109 margin.
While Sigqibo passed the test, his Duncan Village homeboy Nhlanhla "24" Ngamntwini was brutally knocked out by Mexican journeyman Ulises Lara who came to the fight with 15 losses.
Vying for the WBA international junior bantamweight belt, Ngamntwini was in the ring only last month when he was lucky to be given a draw against Thembelani Nxoshe in an SA flyweight title clash. He was floored heavily by Nxoshe and he appeared not to have fully recovered from the knockdown he suffered last month.
After allowing Lara to take the first round, Ngamntwini roared back with gusto in the second as he rained stinging shots.
At times he appeared to be a few punches away from forcing a stoppage.
He was still enjoying success in the third when he forgot to guard against Lara’s counter punching.
Lara landed a moderate right and followed up with a wicked left hook right on the money.
Ngamntwini fell as if a rug had been pulled from under his feet, banging his head on the canvas as he fell, sparking medical personnel to rush to his attention.
He eventually made it to his feet much to the relief of the crowd.
Gideon Buthelezi retained his IBO junior bantamweight title with a master-class performance over Argentinean Lucas Fernandez.
Buthelezi used his superior boxing technique to outsmart the limited South American.
Bright prospect Uyanda Nogogo appeared to have returned to his best when he shut out Tanzanian Aziz Uliza to win the IBF youth welterweight title.