ONE punch knockouts don?t come much better than this.
Mlungisi ?The Shark? Dlamini stalked Zolani Marali for nearly four rounds at Emperors Palace last night before landing his first real punch of the fight ? a straight right to the chin which uprooted Marali for the count.
It was a sensational conclusion to a bout that, up until then, had been a stinker, with Marali running like a thief. His evasive tactics resembled those of Osama Bin Laden, throwing the occasional punch from range and tying Dlamini up on the inside.
The first time that Marali tried to stand his ground and trade punches, Dlamini delivered his awesome missile straight down the groove into southpaw?s exposed chin, and he sunk to the canvas.
Marali attempted to get up, but he simply toppled forward on to his head and everybody knew it was game over. The referee?s continuation of the count was mere formality.
Dlamini?s record improved to 21 wins and a draw while Marali dropped to 20-4. This match-up was greeted with some controversy because just last month Marali lost his IBO junior-lightweight title on a stoppage. He was allowed to take this fight because he was deemed not to have taken bad punishment then.
Earlier, Isaac Chilemba ground out a points win over world-ranked and previously unbeaten Doudou Ngumbu to claim the WBC?s stepping-stone International light-heavyweight title.
Apart from some adrenaline-filled flurries, this won?t go down as a classic boxing match, but Chilemba did enough to win the belt ? and hopefully his No 10 WBC rating ? from an awkward fighter whose only tactic, it seemed, was to try land a haymaker.
Chilemba, who also won the African title, improved his record to 14-1. France-based Ngumbu, originally from the DRC, dropped to 20-1.
Hekkie Budler made quick work of Motswaka Moselesele, the 2007 Baby Champ, knocking him out in the first round for his first stoppage victory in over a year.
Budler knocked him down with a straight right, and Moselesele was unable to recover thereafter, with Budler finishing him off quickly.
Flo Simba made a successful debut when he stopped Bernard Vance in the first round. Simba, just 20 and a chiselled 90kg, is being touted as South Africa?s next great heavyweight hope.
