A hurricane of flying leather in the form of a boxer, Silence Mabuza rocked the Carousel Sports Arena on Tuesday night when Mabuza easily ended Khulile Makeba’s dreams of becoming a world champion.
Mabuza, who is undoubtedly destined for greater heights, chalked down the first defence of his IBO bantamweight belt, which he won from Colombian Jose Sanjuanelo in March last year.
The ”Real Deal”, as the charismatic champion from Tsakane in Springs is affectionately known, lived up to his midweek promise of stopping Makeba dead in his tracks within the scheduled distance.
Mabuza, who enjoyed territorial advantage against the East London challenger, rightly said Makeba could run but would not be successful at hiding away from him.
The gutsy challenger, a former reigning national mini-flyweight champion, did just that beautifully for five rounds. Not only did he evade Mabuza, but also shocked the champion with some beautiful punches.
However, Mabuza knew what to expect and in fact was quite content to do the chasing. It was clear that he enjoyed chasing Makeba with the idea of wearing him down. He carried Makeba through just to punish him before finally putting a stop in the proceedings.
Mabuza cornered Makeba in the sixth round and the challenger hit the deck. But determination got him up and he held his own. But it was not long before the businesslike Mabuza started launching some serious missiles.
He drove Makeba into the same corner again and the visibly exhausted challenger, who had to run to shed some kilograms after failing to make the required weight limit at the official weigh-in on Monday afternoon, reached a cul-de-sac.
The trigger-fisted champion let loose a flurry and Makeba went down for the final count in the eighth round.
Mabuza (27), who has yet to taste defeat since turning professional in 2000, added his 14th short-route victory in 15 fights while Makeba suffered his third defeat against 17 wins.
It was definitely a sweet comeback fight for Mabuza, who has not fought in the local ring since winning the IBO title last year.
Takalani Ndlovu registered the third defence of his South African featherweight belt after cutting down to size Luyolo Kotsana in just six rounds earlier on.
Ndlovu, who is nicknamed ”The Panther”, pounced on Kotsana like the real jungle cat.
The challenger from Eastern Cape hit the canvass as early as the third round. He came back strong but was unable to tame Ndlovu, who kept boring in. A left uppercut to the jaw lifted Kotsana off the ground in the sixth round.
The blow was so powerful that Kotsana was knocked right out of the ring where he was counted out. — Sapa