Mthalane wins IBO title Moruti Mthalane won the IBO flyweight title when he beat Jether Oliva on a split decision in Durban on Saturday night. The South African, a former IBF champion, won 117-112 and 116-112 on two cards. The third judge scored it for the Filipino, 115-113. Mthalane, fighting with a badly swollen left eye for eleven rounds, showed why he is regarded as the best boxer in South Africa as he took the vacant title in a hugely entertaining bout at the International Convention Centre. He won because of his excellent defence, which made it hard for the game Oliva to land enough scoring blows to cause an upset. Oliva, in contrast, held his hands low and showed little head movement, allowing Mthalane to pick up points throughout the highly competitive bout. But there were times when Oliva’s hand speed enabled him to land telling blows. There were no knockdowns but the spectators got more than their money’s worth as their hero improved his record to 30-2, with 20 wins inside the distance. Oliva’s dropped to 20-2-2, with 10 knockouts. Oliva announced his arrival in the opening round, throwing punches with intent, if not much accuracy. At the end of the round, Mthalane sported an ugly blob under his left eye. Whether it came from a clash of heads or a blow was not clear but it gave Oliva something to aim at for the rest of the fight. Mthalane, watching his assailant from between gloves held high, must have realised early on that it was not going to be an early night. He did stop the Filipino in his tracks with a solid right in the fourth round but Oliva came straight back at him. Because Oliva was the aggressor for most of the rounds, and because he landed a good many body blows, there was always the possibility of an upset decision. But in the end there was no doubt about the result, even through one judge disagreed. The 31-year-old South African, who was No 1 on the IBO’s rankings list, returned to the ring for the first time since he retained the IBF belt in a fight against Ricardo Nunez in Panama City in September 2012. He was later stripped of the belt for failing to defend it. Manny Pacquiao would have been proud of his countrymans courage and positive attitude but Floyd Mayweather would have given Mthalane points for his defence and the way he maintained his concentration. On the undercard, in another entertaining bout, Christopher Buthelezi beat Giovanni Bushby on points – 120-111, 117-111 and 120-108 – to retain his SA middleweight title. Referee Darryl Ribbink took an interest in an ugly cut under Buthelezis left eye during the ninth round, but the 42-year-old champion had too much experience and power for the 28-year-old Bushby, who was fighting in only his eighth professional bout. Buthelezi improved his record to 22-12-3, with 9 shortcut wins. Bushbys dropped to 4-3-1; 3.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 20:09:42 +0000
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