Ndlovu, Transvaal draw in thrilling main event
Prince Ndlovu and Mbulelo Transvaal renewed their rivalry in an absorbing featherweight main event bout, which finished as a draw at the Presleys Night Club on Wednesday evening, November 27.
This was the second drawn meeting between the Alexandra rivals after their first encounter earlier this year also proving too close for the judges to separate.
The first judge scored the eight-round bout 75-77, in favour of Transvaal, the second judge scored it 78-74, in favour of Ndlovu with the third official scoring it 76-all.
The fight got off on a low tempo with both fighters, who displayed a lot of mutual respect for each other, using the first round to size each other up.
Ndlovu got out of the blocks first, and managed to get a clean shot at Transvaal’s face in the second round, leaving him dazed and off balance.
Ndlovu stepped up his game, pinning Transvaal in the corner with relentless rights-and-lefts before the brief round-separating interval.
Round three saw a more equally-matched fight with Transvaal landing strikes of his own after recovering from the preceding round’s stun.
The ring-savvy fighters were neck-and-neck in the middle rounds, equally dictating the pace of the bout with Ndlovu using his superior foot and hand speed to keep Transvaal’s powerful punches at bay.
Those who were in attendance remained glued to their seats into the seventh round, with either fighter refusing to back down.
Both slugged it out in the eighth and last round, with punches being exchanged until the last second.
In another fight of the night, Boksburg’s Chaz Peters made quick work of opponent, Edwin Thaba, with a knock-out win 42 seconds into the first round.
Peters landed the first of his hard punches almost immediately after the start of the welterweight bout – a roundhouse right that put Thaba on the floor, who did not seem to recover from the sting afterwards.
Thaba managed to make it back onto his feet, but Peters followed-up with damaging strikes and uppercuts which again floored Thaba, forcing the referee to put a halt to the match.
Results on the night: Junior welterweight: Gift Mbholo versus Vincent Halliday. Mbholo won via a split points decision.
* Junior lightweight: Sibusiso Zingange versus Gert Airies. Zingange won via unanimous decision.
* Heavyweight: George Tshimanga versus Chris Mbombo. Tshimanga won via unanimous decision.
* Middleweight: Alfonzo Tissen versus MT. Tissen won via unanimous decision.
