By Ron Jackson
Lwandile Ngxeke (aka Landi) from Sada, Eastern Cape won the vacant South African junior bantamweight title when he stopped Athenlosi Dumezweni in the tenth round at the Sun City Superbowl on Saturday night.
Going into the fight, the odds were stacked against the #3 rated Ngexeke (8-1, 3 KOs) who was up against the more experienced southpaw Dumezweni (13-4, 9 KOs) who had fought at a much higher level than Ngexeke, having won the South African, WBC silver and WBO Africa titles.
Ngxeke would be going into his first scheduled 12 rounder against the #2 rated Athenkosi.
The taller Ngxeke took control from the opening round and scored a knockdown in round two with a stiff right hand.
However, the gutsy Dumezweni tried to fight back but with his fast hands the new champion continued to score with right hands to stun his opponent. .
Ngxeke continued to press forward and when Dumezweni was not fighting back in the ninth-round, referee Simon Mokadi stepped in to wave the fight off.
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On the same card Bukiwe “Anaconda” Nonina outscored Feriche Mashau of Tanzania over 10 one-sided rounds to claim the African Boxing Union female junior lightweight title.
On the undercard, former IBO champion Simphiwe Khonco won on points over ten rounds against Ariston Aton. The scores were 100-90, 97-93 and 96-92 in a minimumweight fight.
The tournament was presented by Joyce Kungwane of TLB Boxing Promotions.