SOUTH African hot favourite amateur boxer, Silence Mabuza, was handed a shock defeat by Mauritian Riaz Durgahed at the All-Africa Games. Mabuza looked to have the fight in the bag, but the judges thought differently, giving Durgahed the fight 9-8. The huge crowd, which included several South African boxing celebrities, were hushed into silence by the result, and seemed sure that the local lad was robbed. Mabuza is the fourth SA fighter to make an exit in the All-Africa Games following Mtutuzeli Mapukata (light middleweight), Jeremy Holt (light welterweight) and Sunnyboy Magazi (lightweight). The judges scored the fight 2-0 for Mabuza (first round), drew both second (3-3) and third (7-7) and the Mauritian won the fourth 8-9.
17