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Boxing

Hedda ‘The Shredder’ stages brave fight back to claim victory

David Isaacson Sports reporter
Hedda Wolmarans celebrates as she is declared the winner over Malawi's Ruth Chisale in Johannesburg on Thursday night.
Hedda Wolmarans celebrates as she is declared the winner over Malawi's Ruth Chisale in Johannesburg on Thursday night.
Image: Supplied

SA champion Hedda Wolmarans took an early battering before grinding out a 10-round decision over Ruth Chisale of Malawi in Johannesburg on Thursday night, although not everyone will agree with the decision.

Hedda “The Shredder”, who picked up the IBF’s vacant female junior-welterweight title in the process, looked beaten by the halfway mark, having absorbed a battery of blows.

Her head was an easy target, often because she kept her hands too low and, strangely, leaned forward with her chin exposed.

For Chisale, it was as easy as stealing sweets from a child.

How Wolmarans survived only she will know, but in the second half of the fight her superb conditioning gave her the edge and she turned matters around, coming close to dropping, if not stopping, Chisale in the final round.

Two judges scored it 97-93 for the South African, and the third had her winning 96-94. Four points seemed somewhat generous for a fighter who ate so much leather so frequently in so many of the early rounds.

A win for the Malawian would have not have been undeserved either, but had that happened, she would not have been eligible for the IBF belt, having failed to make the weight.  

Wolmarans’ lack of experience showed in the early rounds, but her courage and conditioning got her through this war, the first time she had been beyond six rounds. Chisale had twice been eight rounds. 

Wolmarans improved to 7-0 and Chisale dropped to 11-2.

Akani Phuzi steamrolled Lebogang Mashitoa inside three rounds of their cruiserweight contest, dropping him four times before the referee waved it over.

Phuzi, fighting under trainer Damien Durandt for the first time, attacked from the start and it was clear he was too strong for his slippery opponent.

He never gave Mashitoa the chance to settle and decked him three times in the third round, which counts as an automatic knockout under SA rules. 

Phuzi, coming off two successive defeats to Johnny Muller, improved to 12-2. Mashitoa dropped to 8-3. 

Boyd Allen was too awkward for Linda Ntshingila, out-hustling him for eight rounds for a convincing points win.

Allen, fighting for the first time since getting knocked out by Brandon Thysse in 2020, controlled the fight with his movement and superior hand speed.

He frequently beat his opponent to the punch and never allowed Ntshingila to find his range or rhythm in a contest that was low octane. Ntshingila looked as if he’d spent his training camp eating garage pies, which could explain why he failed to make the junior-middleweight limit.

Allen improved to six wins, a loss and a draw and Ntshingila dropped to 4-3-1.


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