RITA Mrwebi made history while also proving that her last two wins over Shayvonne Pattison were no fluke during the first South African title fight to be held in the former Transkei.
Johannesburg-based Mrwebi, who hails from Mthatha, produced a wonderful performance on her way to making her first defence of the SA female welterweight title by stopping Pattison at the Walter Sisulu University campus in Butterworth on Saturday.
This was the third time since November 2010 that the 25-year-old had overwhelmed Pattison, including the national title fight in August last year.
Having a reach advantage over Mrwebi, the challenger promised a lot in the early stages of the bout, catching the champion with some nice one-twos.
But it soon became clear that there was no real plan from Pattison to neutralise the stocky Mrwebi, who came forward more often and hit the challenger hard.
Buoyed by the local support, Mrwebi landed blow after blow, forcing Pattison to retreat a little though the challenger soldiered on bravely.
Instead of working on Mrwebi's body, Pattison continued to land her blows on Mrwebi's guards.
Mrwebi, on the other hand, continued to dominate the slug fest, hitting Pattison at will, while the challenger had to stretch to catch the champion with some body blows, which had little effect as a result.
The challenger's corner was manned by former World Boxing Union junior featherweight contender Anton Gilmore.
The beating happened often, especially in the second and third rounds.
Pattison took the fight to Mrwebi at the beginning of the fourth round, but once again she failed when it mattered most.
The complexion of the fight changed soon after that with Mrwebi landing a barrage of blows with no answer from Pattison.
A heavily beaten Pattison wobbled with jelly-like legs, while Mrwebi charged on and continued with the pummelling.
Seeing that Pattison was getting hurt, fight referee Siya Vabaza intervened one minute and 49 seconds into the fourth round to stop the fight.
Mrwebi stops Pattison again
RITA Mrwebi made history while also proving that her last two wins over Shayvonne Pattison were no fluke during the first South African title fight to be held in the former Transkei.
Johannesburg-based Mrwebi, who hails from Mthatha, produced a wonderful performance on her way to making her first defence of the SA female welterweight title by stopping Pattison at the Walter Sisulu University campus in Butterworth on Saturday.
This was the third time since November 2010 that the 25-year-old had overwhelmed Pattison, including the national title fight in August last year.
Having a reach advantage over Mrwebi, the challenger promised a lot in the early stages of the bout, catching the champion with some nice one-twos.
But it soon became clear that there was no real plan from Pattison to neutralise the stocky Mrwebi, who came forward more often and hit the challenger hard.
Buoyed by the local support, Mrwebi landed blow after blow, forcing Pattison to retreat a little though the challenger soldiered on bravely.
Instead of working on Mrwebi's body, Pattison continued to land her blows on Mrwebi's guards.
Mrwebi, on the other hand, continued to dominate the slug fest, hitting Pattison at will, while the challenger had to stretch to catch the champion with some body blows, which had little effect as a result.
The challenger's corner was manned by former World Boxing Union junior featherweight contender Anton Gilmore.
The beating happened often, especially in the second and third rounds.
Pattison took the fight to Mrwebi at the beginning of the fourth round, but once again she failed when it mattered most.
The complexion of the fight changed soon after that with Mrwebi landing a barrage of blows with no answer from Pattison.
A heavily beaten Pattison wobbled with jelly-like legs, while Mrwebi charged on and continued with the pummelling.
Seeing that Pattison was getting hurt, fight referee Siya Vabaza intervened one minute and 49 seconds into the fourth round to stop the fight.
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