Johannesburg – During last night’s hard-hitting contest of the ESPN Africa Boxing tournament hosted in Johannesburg, Botswana proved their worth in the boxing tournament as they aced multiple victories.
Botswana’s Steven ‘Small’ Bagwasi knocked out South Africa’s Koos ‘The Great Last Warrior’ Sibiya in a 10-round Junior Lightweight contest via split decision (96-94, 94-96, 96-95).
It was a magnificent night of boxing at the EFC Training institute in Sandton on Thursday 27 January, with six enthralling bouts that delivered 33 rounds of action and two knockouts.
The headline fight lived up to the hype with both boxers leaving it all in the ring.
The bout started at a frantic pace with neither boxer giving an inch as they stood toe-to-toe and traded blows.
Bagwasi got the better of the early exchanges, using his speed and left-right combinations to keep Sibiya at bay.
This became a superb boxing prowess displayed by some of the continent’s top boxing talent, in front of an exhilarated crowd.
The Botswana fighter slowed down a bit in the middle rounds which allowed the older Sibiya to find a footing in the bout as he started landing some big left-hooks to the head and body.
Bagwasi, picked up the pace again in the latter rounds, moving around the ring freely as he landed the shots that would ultimately win him the fight.
Bagwasi took a victory in this contest, marking it his seventh of his career and taking his fight record to 7W-1L-0D while the South African slumped to 23W-17L-5D.
In other matches, Dragon’ van Heerden delivered a devastating knockout of Khodani Nephalane 18 seconds into round one of their Middleweight contest.
It was Nephalane’s first fight as a professional and it showed with the man from Limpopo breaking the golden rule in boxing after dropping his hands only moments into the bout.
Nephalane was out before he hit the deck and had no chance of answering the ten-count.
The second bout of the night saw Katlego Khanyisa delivering a superb victory (39-37, 40-37, 39-37) over Clement Pilusa in a four-round lightweight contest.
Khanyisa was the aggressor from the onset and set a frantic pace, one Pilusa struggled to keep up with.
The Black Kat showed good form, throwing numerous punches as he worked well from behind his jab.
The Black Kat’s record now stands at 2W-0L-0D while Pilusa registers the second loss of his career with his record at 0W-2L-1D.
It was a comprehensive showing from Botswana’s Kutlwano ‘El Chino’ Ogaketse in the fifth bout of Africa Boxing with a unanimous decision win (77-76, 78-74, 78-74) over South Africa’s Prince Ndlovu in their Lightweight contest.
Ogaketse showed great technique, sitting behind a stinging jab and a thunderous straight right as he threw countless combinations.
The Botswana fighter just got stronger as the bout went on and picked his opponent apart at will to record the sixth victory of his career (6W-2L-1D).
Overall results are as follows:
- Donjuan van Heerden wins by first round KO (18 seconds) over Khodani Nephalane
- Katlego Khanyisa wins by Unanimous Decision over Clement Pilusa (39-37, 40-37, 39-37)
- Ellen Simwaka wins by fourth round TKO (1min, 14 seconds) over Gabisilie Tshabalala
- Sphamandla Manqatha wins by Unanimous Decision over Gerard Titus (58-56, 57-56, 59-58)
- Kutlwano Ogaketse wins by Unanimous Decision over Prince Ndlovu (77-76, 78-74, 78-74)
- Steven Bagwasi wins by Split Decision over Koos Sibiya (96-94, 94-96, 96-95)
For the latest sports news from Sunday World, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
