MONDAY, 11.00AM:
SOUTH African Morgan Ndumo, holder of the WBC B-grade “International”, went down in four rounds to Mexican challenger Paul Villahabos in a non-title bout at Wembley arena in Johannesburg yesterday.
The agressive Mexican made up for his lack of height with a relentless attack, making his mark with a flurry of blows to Ndumo’s body before moving his target to the head, before the referee put Ndumo out of his misery in the fourth round.
The loss takes Ndumo’s record to 10 wins, four losses and a draw, and must lead him to reconsider his career in the ring.
In the main supporting bout, Transvaal junior lightweight champion Joseph Ramaswe made short work of “great white hope” Leonard Steyn, flooring him in the thrid round with a left hook to the jaw, rounded off with a strong series of blows to the body.
SPORTS BRIEFS
BOTHA ON A HIGH IN RIO
RIAAN BOTHA won the men’s pole vault at the Rio de Janeiro grand prix athletics meeting yesterday with a height of 5,80m, beating American Pat Manson’s 5,70m.
WEBBER’S FLYING START
COURTALDS International’s SA skipper Boris Webber got off to a flying start in the fifth leg of the BT Global Challenge, from Cape Town to Boston, by crossing the line first in a display claimed to be the fastest and most aggressive start to date.
NDWANDWE NATAL MATCHPLAY CHAMP
ERIC NDWANDWE showed true courage yesterday to win the final of the Natal Amateur Golf matchplay championship at Durban Country Club yesterday by winning the last two of the 36 holes to keep a lead that had been steadily eroded from a five-hole advantage after 13 holes. Ndwandwe finished the tournament one hole ahead of Mark Cox, who had fought hard to close the gap, and who had made it to a one-point lead by the 32nd.
COETZER LOSES TO TEENAGER
SOUTH African tennis start Amanda Coetzer bowed out of the semifinals of the Croatian Open on Saturday with a defeat to unseeded 15-year-old Croatian Mirjana Lucic. Lucic went on to beat American Corina Morariu 7-5 6-7 7-6 in the final yesterday.