Knockouts, pulsating music and hilarious comedy all under one roof
The Battle of the Warriors Boxing Extravaganza that took place in the Sun Arena at Times Square in Pretoria on Sunday, produced good entertainment, lots of action and also some controversial results.
There were knockout blows in the boxing ring, hilarious jokes by one of South Africa’s best comedians and the spellbinding music of Dr. Victor and The Rasta Rebels all under one roof.
Spectators at Sunday’s Battle of the Warriors Boxing Extravaganza in the Sun Arena at Times Square in Menlyn Maine could definitely not have asked for more.
Though Barry Hilton made the crowd to roar with laughter and Dr. Victor’s band made their feet itch to dance, it was the boxing action that got the most attention.
There were seven action-packed battles between various international and local boxers.
The crowd could experience a bit of everything boxing can offer. The evening’s action kicked off with a knockout in the first round of the welterweight fight between Sheldon Schultz and Martin Lelope.
Something of everything then followed – technical knockouts, points decisions and even a controversial disqualification decision – in the next five battles.
There were no less than three split decisions among the points results which were decided according to the judges’ scorecards. Two of these decisions were highly controversial and the dissatisfaction of boxers, coaches and supporters reflected rather badly on the officials of Boxing SA involved.
One of the men who probably suffered unnecessary damage to his very promising career due to a controversial decision is local boxer Michael Markram, of well-known Smith’s Gym in Sandton.
His coach, Sean Smith, immediately asked for a rematch against Jackson Masamba from the DRC.
Smith told Rekord he believes that Boxing SA had a responsibility to clarify how judges were trained.
“There must be clarity about the process according to which judges are trained and evaluated. I think the whole process must be reviewed, because we cannot allow obvious mistakes in the case of career-determining decisions against boxers,” Smith said.
The disqualification of Noah Shikwambana due to “repetitive low blows”, was almost laughable. His opponent, Sam Sithole, has put up a show that would have made many professional soccer players jealous but the spectators, who saw the replay on the big screen, were not fooled like the evidently overreacting referee.
Fans booed Sithole out of the ring to the dressing room.
In the main battle, promising young heavyweight of Ukraine, Vlad Sirenko, needed less than two minutes to finish off 40-year-old opponent, Rocky Kaleng of the DRC.
Kaleng, who is not a palooka and has won several international titles, was no match for the young upcoming star who forced him to surrender with a few hurting punches.
Sirenko is currently part of the same camp in Meyerton where the South African heavyweight champion, Ruan Visser, is also training. James Ali Bashir the veteran coach who had previously been involved with the well-known Klitschko brothers (also from Ukraine) is the main coach in the camp.
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