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mbamba stuns thai

ON HIGH: WBC International champion Evans Mbamba flattened David Lookmahanak in the seventh round last Friday night. 05/12/08. © Unknown.
ON HIGH: WBC International champion Evans Mbamba flattened David Lookmahanak in the seventh round last Friday night. 05/12/08. © Unknown.

Bongani Magasela

Bongani Magasela

Evans Mbamba did not only surprise himself by knocking out Devid Lookmahanak in round seven of 12 last Friday night.

But he also shocked ringside experts as well as both trainer Nick Durandt and promoters Branco Milenkovic and Jacob Matlala.

"Yes", shouted the three musketeers in jubilation as they rushed into the ring.

When Mexican referee Guadalupe Garcia reached the count of 10 while the Thai fighter lay flat on his back, Mbamba cried like a baby, and Milenkovic joined the chorus.

Durandt punched the air in a sign of triumph while his assistant trainer Kenneth Mabunda advised the left-handed fighter from Duduza in Ekurhuleni to stop crying because he had not committed any crime.

Mbamba's next fight will be a challenge to WBC, WBA and IBF super flyweight undisputed champion Vic Darchinyan.

"I do not believe this," said the pocket-sized WBC International champion whose victory confirmed that boxing is an unpredictable sport. He looked set for defeat as he struggled to breathe after three rounds.

Whatever Durandt told him in the corner after the sixth round worked magic as Mbamba burst into action with a venomous two-punch combination in the start of the seventh - the rest was history.

That is how he easily won the mandatory number one spot in the super flyweight division.

Meanwhile, Chris van Heerden, another Durandt fighter, killed two birds with one stone in the main supporting bout of this Branco Sports Production programme. His 12th round stoppage of Page Tshesane enabled him to retain the ABU welterweight belt and also take home the vacant SA belt.

In the other bouts junior middleweight Michael van Heerden floored Theophilus Mzila in the first round and Fernando Angulo (Venezuela) floored Ranee Ganoy (Philippines) in the fourth.

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