“I was robbed” - Ndlovu

Oscar Chauke proved that he was not the South African featherweight champion by default when he successfully defended his title against Prince Ndlovu at the Giyani Community Hall last Saturday evening.

Chauke beat Ndlovu on points over 12 rounds. He approached the fight aggressively, giving his challenger no time to breathe. The first two rounds undoubtedly went Chauke’s way, but Ndlovu made amends in the next three rounds, when Chauke was cornered several times.

After the event, Ndlovu says he had been cheated, "especially by the referee's actions, which influenced the judges’ decision."  He added that he needed a rematch as soon as possible. “I slipped four times because of water in the ring, not because of punches. Referee Sylvia Mapaila, however, counted. She even fell because of the same problem of water in the ring. Instead of mopping up the water, they let us continue with the fight."

He added that he had dominated the fight from the onset and regarded himself as the champion, "because everyone could see how I outclassed Chauke."

Oscar Chauke said that he was ready if Ndlovu needed a rematch. He said it was a pound-for-pound fight, where he showed his jabbing skills and professionalism. "I have defended my title and that’s it," he said.

The main supporting bout between Johannes Peterson and Renson Hobyane, which was scheduled over eight rounds, lasted for only three. It was evident from the start that Peterson would be lucky if he survived until the end of their super middleweight division bout, as Hobyane was all over him. The referee came to Peterson’s rescue when he stopped the fight in the third round. At that stage, Hobyane was throwing killer punches at Peterson from all angles.

In the only female bout for the evening, the South African bantamweight champ, Bukiwe Nonina, convincingly beat her Zimbabwean counterpart, Diana Makumbe, on points. Makumbe was Nonina’s punching bag for the better part of the fight, which lasted eight rounds.

Although it was a non-title bout, the featherweight division fight between Sydney "Skeleton" Maluleke and Tawanda Chigwida was mouthwatering. Maluleke and Chigwida exchanged hot blows from the first round and after eight gruelling rounds, Maluleke was declared the winner on points. Chigwida is the Zimbabwean champion.

Godfrey Nemukongwe was simply the best in his featherweight bout against Pfariso Neluvhalani. The fight provided four rounds of maximum entertainment.

The tournament was staged by Hlanganisa Sports Promotions, in conjunction with the Greater Giyani Municipality.The promoter, James Mathonsi, said it was a spectacular tournament that had revived boxing in Limpopo.

Date:26 June 2015

By: Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

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