Yap makes Sityatha work for win
MINIYAKHE Sityatha had managed to bully his last four opponents into submission before Saturday’s fight against Filipino boxer Marjohn Yap at the Orient Theatre in East London.
But this time it was different for the 22-year-old Sikhulule High School pupil in Mdantsane when he faced Yap, who gave Sityatha a run for his money throughout the whole fight.
The going was a little bit tough for the South African junior-bantamweight champion despite all the judges – Lulama Mtya, Siphiwo Mbini and Andile Matika – giving Sityatha the nod after a gruelling 10-round bout.
And Sityatha has since admitted that Yap had proved to be a hard nut to crack. “That was a a very difficult fight for me. Yap was a very tough opponent,” said Sityatha.
But the South African bantamweight champion was not the same fighter who dethroned Unathi Gqokoma last April and overwhelmed Nceba Zozo, Mncedi Yokose and Thembelani Maphuma.
However, it has to be said once again that Sityatha went into the fight carrying a right knee injury, something which worried his camp led by chief trainer Boyboy Mpulampula.
Sityatha started the fight well, landing more blows than Yap in the first and second rounds, but the Filipino was more impressive at the beginning of the third round. However, Sityatha’s onetwo combinations forced the 23-year-old Yap to fight on the retreat.
There was a time, especially in the fourth round, when Sityatha looked as if he was on top of Yap, only for the Filipino boxer to catch him with some vicious blows, which left the Mdantsane boxer staggering on numerous occasions.
Seeing that Yap was hurting him, Sityatha resorted to holding, something which bought him a measure of time. It soon became clear that Yap had the upper hand when it came to in-fighting while Sityatha did better when fighting from a distance.fighting from arms’ left was exactly what Sityatha’s corner was shouting for.
The bell signalling the end of the fourth round saved Sityatha from receiving more punishment from Yap.
After seeing that Yap was controlling the fight in the eighth round, the crowd started to sing in an effort to spur Sityatha on. That seemed to work as he was the better boxer in round nine.
Once again, Yap came back into the fight in round 10 and shook Sityatha a number of times, but that was way too late for the Filipino to make any impression on the judges as the Mdantsane boxer had already collected points. In the end, Sityatha won the fight by a unanimous decision with Mtya and Mbini’s scorecards reading 98-93, and Matika’s 99-93.