South African Cassius Baloyi retained his International Boxing Organisation junior lightweight crown with a stunning 11th round TKO over his countryman Mbulelo Botile in the main event of the Crowning Duel tournament at Carnival City on Saturday night”.
The ”Hitman” more than lived up to his fearsome reputation and his record now stands at 28-1.
Botile a former two time International Boxing Federation featherweight and bantamweight, ran out of steam and was decked in the 11th round. After a murderous barrage of punching from the champion Botile turned his back on Baloyi and walked back to his corner.
Botile was on top in the first half of the bout by taking the fight to the champion. Botile had the champion under a lot of pressure until Baloyi stepped up a gear in the eighth round and never looked back.
Botile was caught by the champion’s hard left right combinations in the ninth and 10th rounds. The end was inevitable as Botile ran out of steam and his courage shown earlier in the fight deserted him in the 11th round, when he failed to fight back when Baloyi had him backed onto the ropes. Baloyi dropped him for a mandatory eight count and then went hell for leather after the challenger, who decided he had enough,quit with only two seconds of the 11th round remaining.
Baloyi fought a tactical fight and although he showed the power and courage that makes great champions, he was behind until the seventh round. The fight was even at the 10th and in the penultimate round the champion showed his true colours and punching power by retaining his world title with a devastating display of punching power.
His trainer Brian Mitchell said afterwards that he was happy with Baloyi and added: ”We will sit down shortly to work out a way forward for Baloyi.” – Sapa