Top fighters live up to expectations at Orient
THE region’s boxing trio of Zolani Tete, Xolisani Ndongeni and Nkosinathi Joyi made a welcome return home when they scored resounding victories at the Orient Theatre on Friday.
However, the night belonged to Ndongeni as sounds of his Nomeva moniker reverberated through the packed venue long before his bout against Argentinean Miguel Angel Escalada arrived.
With the hall erupting into “Nank uNomeva whee Nomevaaaa” (here comes the wasp), Ndongeni did not disappoint as he dropped his South American opponent twice before finally putting him away in only two rounds.
Having left Duncan Village to join trainer Colin Nathan and promoter Rodney Berman in Johannesburg, Ndongeni, who hails from Mount Frere, was fighting in the city for the first time since February.
And after his unsatisfactory performances in his last two bouts, a lot was expected from him.
Ndongeni underlined his improvement under Nathan as he displayed a sneaky right hand which proved to be an Achilles Heel for Escalada.
The punch initially dropped him in the first round and then put him down and out in the second to spark wild celebrations in the hall.
Tete, who headlined the Sijuta Promotion show, methodically broke down Mexican Diuhl Olguin before forcing the stoppage in the eighth round.
The Mexican was floored twice in the third round and was on the brink of quitting as saliva dripped off his mouth owing to Tete’s body blows.
But somehow the Mdantsane southpaw abandoned his body work to give Olguin a chance to survive although he was still on the receiving end of a serious pounding.
And when Tete increased his offence and pinned his foe to the corner where he rained wicked punches, the towel came flying in to save him from more punishment.
Joyi also snapped a two fight losing streak when he knocked out Sinethemba Magibisela in five rounds of their junior flyweight clash.
Joyi started slowly and allowed his fellow southpaw foe to score with crisp punches.
Mixing his punches well as he landed downstairs with frightening regularity, the end became inevitable.
Magibisela hit the deck twice in the fourth round before Joyi finished him off in the following round to breathe life into his career.
Other results saw Giovanni Bushby outlasting Johannes Sallie to win the WBA Pan African middleweight crown.
Lwandisa Zinto was stopped in three rounds by Refhiwa Maemu in a featherweight clash while Bonakele Bikitsha outpunched Phila Gola in their junior featherweight bout.
In a walkout bout Zama Zokwe forced Philani Fetsha to quit at the beginning of round five in a junior featherweight scrap.