If Smangele Hadebe was a number she would be a perfect 10. That is how best to describe her flawless performance in Pretoria on Saturday night. “Smash” grabbed the SA flyweight title via a lopsided points decision against Thema Zuma. It was the champion’s 10th win.
The scores were 98-92, 99-91 and 99-91. Hadebe ended the 10-rounder the same way she started it. There were no knock-downs.
It was her second fight under new trainer Harry Ramogoadi. It was a good choice by manager Colleen McAusland, who took Hadebe to Ramogoadi when the boxer’s trainer, Lionel Hunter, died in October last year. Ramogoadi is a young trainer who is hungry for success, so is Hadebe.
The change in Hadebe’s outlook was evident in her first fight under Ramogoadi in August when she outpointed Zuma over eight rounds. But she was just a marvel to watch on Saturday. Credit, however, must go to Zuma whose spirited performance brought the best out of Hadebe. Zuma, who is trained by Lethu Sibisi, showed great durability by staying on her feet for the duration of the fight despite taking big punches.
This fight should have been the main event of the 5th Elements six-bout card but promoter Janie Hebler opted for the return of Thomas “Tommy Gun” Oosthuizen to top her bill. Again, it was Ramogoadi barking instructions in the corner for Oosthuizen who showed glimpses of his brilliance.
He had difficulty shaking off ring rust after being inactive for almost three years. But he did enough to convince two judges who scored the eight-rounder against the tough Youssouf “El Terrible” Mwanza in his favour. Those scores were 80-74 and 78-74. The third judge declared it a draw at 76-76.
Mwanza’s strategy of bulldozing Oosthuizen and fighting in the pocket prevented the taller Oosthuizen from freeing his long arms. But still he came up tops in close quarters because he is a craftsman.
Mwanza made some sceptics eat humble pie with his performance, after he had been described as a sacrificial lamb to be slaughtered by the vastly experience Oosthuzien. That assumption was influenced by the two boxers' fight records. Mwanza was involved in his 15th fight while Oosthuizen chalked up his 29th win against three losses.
Chris Thompson won his second fight in the heavyweight division after pulverising Musa Ajibu from Malawi into submission in the third round while Jacques Muvuud from Congo stopped Simphiwe Ntombela in the third round. Henrique Lando stopped Linda Ntshingila in two rounds with Mziwoxolo Ndwayana defeating Congolese Katembo Kuvesa on points over eight rounds.
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