BOITSHEPO "Gangster" Mandawe learned the hard way that cornflakes can be good for you as they gave Paul "The Natural" Kamanga the energy to easily outclass him over 12 one-sided rounds for the vacant WBA Pan African junior welterweight belt on Tuesday night.
Mandawe warned last week that he was not going to be threatened by "a boy who stays in the suburbs and eats cornflakes every morning".
His verbal barbs incited so much excitement that fans packed Emperors Palace's Centre Court.
They wanted to see the tough-talking Sowetan, who is trained by Harold Volbrecht, end the blossoming career of the 19-year-old Congolese star who is based in Johannesburg where he is trained by Anton Gilmore.
But it was the direct opposite. A superbly conditioned Kamanga was too smart for Mandawe. Kamanga stuck and moved, surprising his foe with big punches. Mandawe, who did all the chasing, could hardly land a blow. When he did it was a slap as he hit with open gloves.
Mandawe's biggest downfall is that he fights with his heart and rarely uses his brains.
He also needs to learn to either parry or evade punches using guile.
In the end, judges Joe Chaane, Wally Snowball and Tony Nyangiwe rightly scored the fight 117-112, 117-111 and 116-112 for Kamanga, who remained undefeated after 13 fights.
Mandawe suffered his fourth defeat in 20 fights. That was his fourth attempt at a title, having failed three times to win the SA junior welterweight belt.
Kamanga's stablemate Rofhiwa "War Child" Maemu lost a fight he appeared to have won against Joey Stigling over six rounds in the lightweight class earlier in the night. Ayanda Nkosi burst the bubble of Ricardo Hiraman, the Indian fighter from Durban, who tasted defeat after three consecutive wins.
Boxing authorities should rescue Thulani Mbatha and Mastered Mangaladza, who have become punching bags. Mbatha, who has been around since 2000 with no success, went down as if he had been shot against Grant Fourie in less than a minute. That was Mbatha's 11th defeat, his sixth stoppage, in 20 fights.
The same happened to Mangaladza against Chaz Peters. Mangaladza, who has been around since 2002, suffered his 10th defeat against two wins.
These bouts were organised jointly by promoters Jeff Ellis and Rodney Berman who paid tribute to crippled former Transvaal middleweight champion Leo "Ali" Simelane. He lost both his legs few years back to diabetes. Berman signed a cheque of R25000 for a cheerful Simelane who attended the tournament with his family.
Gangster silenced
BOITSHEPO "Gangster" Mandawe learned the hard way that cornflakes can be good for you as they gave Paul "The Natural" Kamanga the energy to easily outclass him over 12 one-sided rounds for the vacant WBA Pan African junior welterweight belt on Tuesday night.
Mandawe warned last week that he was not going to be threatened by "a boy who stays in the suburbs and eats cornflakes every morning".
His verbal barbs incited so much excitement that fans packed Emperors Palace's Centre Court.
They wanted to see the tough-talking Sowetan, who is trained by Harold Volbrecht, end the blossoming career of the 19-year-old Congolese star who is based in Johannesburg where he is trained by Anton Gilmore.
But it was the direct opposite. A superbly conditioned Kamanga was too smart for Mandawe. Kamanga stuck and moved, surprising his foe with big punches. Mandawe, who did all the chasing, could hardly land a blow. When he did it was a slap as he hit with open gloves.
Mandawe's biggest downfall is that he fights with his heart and rarely uses his brains.
He also needs to learn to either parry or evade punches using guile.
In the end, judges Joe Chaane, Wally Snowball and Tony Nyangiwe rightly scored the fight 117-112, 117-111 and 116-112 for Kamanga, who remained undefeated after 13 fights.
Mandawe suffered his fourth defeat in 20 fights. That was his fourth attempt at a title, having failed three times to win the SA junior welterweight belt.
Kamanga's stablemate Rofhiwa "War Child" Maemu lost a fight he appeared to have won against Joey Stigling over six rounds in the lightweight class earlier in the night. Ayanda Nkosi burst the bubble of Ricardo Hiraman, the Indian fighter from Durban, who tasted defeat after three consecutive wins.
Boxing authorities should rescue Thulani Mbatha and Mastered Mangaladza, who have become punching bags. Mbatha, who has been around since 2000 with no success, went down as if he had been shot against Grant Fourie in less than a minute. That was Mbatha's 11th defeat, his sixth stoppage, in 20 fights.
The same happened to Mangaladza against Chaz Peters. Mangaladza, who has been around since 2002, suffered his 10th defeat against two wins.
These bouts were organised jointly by promoters Jeff Ellis and Rodney Berman who paid tribute to crippled former Transvaal middleweight champion Leo "Ali" Simelane. He lost both his legs few years back to diabetes. Berman signed a cheque of R25000 for a cheerful Simelane who attended the tournament with his family.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos