Kamanga dishes out boxing lesson
Malice at the Palace was staged at Emperors Palace, where Martin Murray made his first appearance in South Africa.
TO say that Paul Kamanga has dished out a boxing lesson to Adam de Moor is an understatement.
It was indeed Malice at the Palace as Kamanga not only fought out his heart, but walked into the boxing fraternity hearts as he overpowered De Moor to beat him in round seven. This must go down the record books as the fight of the evening at the Box ‘n Dine presented by AfricanRing.
“Malice at the Palace, Box ‘n Dine was held on Wednesday April 23 at Emperors Palace, and was by far one of the best presented by the king of Box ‘n Dines, Jeff Ellis, in conjunction with Golden Gloves Promotions.
Kamanga beat De Moor in the junior welterweight division by TKO in the seventh round 2:36.
Fighting from the heart of the South, Kamanga from Box Office and his well-groomed team of trainers, Anton Gilmore, Raymond Cerfonteyn and the ever present Gert Strydom, had an answer for each and every attack from De Moor. Kamanga overcame each and every onslaught made on him by De Moor and his trainer, well-known, Colin Nathan from the Hot Box Gym. But at the end it was Kamanga who showed that he needed this win to further his young career in the professional boxing world.
“We had plan A, B, C and even more,” said Kamaga, “We know we had to work on an all-round performance as this was the best boxer I was fighting.”
Both came out of their corners flying and exchanged punches blow for blow in the first round, and one could sense that this was going to be a humdinger of a fight. The second round saw more of Kamanga sizing up his opponent and pressing forward, but de Moor’s reply was steadfast. Moving on to the following rounds, it was Kamanga who looked superior and in control of the fight, though still a tough decision for the judges.
De Moor absorbed the bombardment coming from the Southerner in the fourth, but in the fifth he came out and paid Kamanga back. “Yes, to tell the truth, he did rock me and I was dazed, but thought that I will get through the round,“ said the 20-year-old Kamanga afterwards.
De Moor had no answers for the well trained Kamanga, who restored his energy and chipped his way through to the seventh, where he finally put away one monstrous punch into De Moor to send him down. Only seconds later De Moor was down again, Kamanga’s power game too much for the offering.
The main fight saw Martin Murray from the UK making his appearance on South African soil, fighting Ishmeal Tetteh from Ghana in the International middleweight division.
Murray won the fight in the strangest way, as Tetteh came out of his corner in the seventh appearing to have an ankle problem. Murray won each and every round to hand him the TKO at the start of the seventh.
He was way off form that saw him give Sergio Martinez such a terrific fight exactly one year ago, but he wasn’t required to be at his best against an admittedly limited opponent.
Earlier, Grant Fourie won his fight after being out of action for more than 18 months. In the fourth round he won with a TKO against Luyanda Jack in the junior welterweight division.
At super-middleweight, Vhonani Tshidaboni from BRD Boxing Academy under the watchfull eye of Manny Fernandes and Page Tshesane, turned in a drama-free six-rounder that ended in a draw.
Junior-welterweights Herbert Nkabiti and Boitshepo Mandawe fought hammer and tongs for four-and-a-half rounds, only for Nkabiti to quit in the fifth. He shamefully turned his back, forcing the referee to call a halt.
In a heavyweight bout, Martin Makabu (Bakole) dominated the much smaller Chris Mabombo, who copped a beating before quitting in the second, citing a twisted knee.
