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Sebastian “Coco” Madani won the
vacant World Boxing Federation
World Super Welterweight title
Saturday (June 23) in front of a
sold-out crowd at the Salle
Chatenoud in Annecy, France, as
he was awarded a hard-fought,
but deserved, unanimous decision
over tough Spaniard Jose Del
Rio.
On the same night, in Cape Town,
South Africa, Vusumzi Tyatyeka
captured the vacant WBF
International Lightweight crown
with a stunning ninth round
knockout over fellow countryman
Thanduxolo Dyani in what turned
out to be a top candidate for
South African fight of the year.In France, Jose Del Rio started
strong, and Sebastien Madani
learned quickly that, as
expected, it would not be an
easy night. Madani went on the
offensive, made the fight
physical and seemed to have
gained control when a right hook
from Del Rio landed flush and
floored the local favorite in
the third round.
Madani beat the count of referee
Toni Tiberi, but the visitor now
seemed to have the upper hand,
at least for a spell. Del Rio
kept boxing well, but Madani
regained his composure and the
initiative, and halfway through
the fight it looked like it
could go either way.
However, from the seventh round
on Madani had most success and
managed to pull away down the
stretch. Both boxers landed
clean shots, and both gave their
all in what turned out to be a
real crowd-pleaser, but in the
end it was Madani who had most
in the tank.
The fans loved every minute of
the fight, and Madani was a
popular winner by scores of
116-111 (Joachim Tueda), 115-112
(Ingo Barrabas) and 115-114
(Martin Basila). The new world
champion improved his impressive
record to 34-1 (10), while Del
Rio travels back to Palma de
Mallorca with a 14-4 (4) ledger.
The show was promoted by
Europrom.
With WBF President and
supervisor Howard Goldberg
watching in amazement from
ringside, Vusumzi Tyatyeka and
Thanduxolo Dyani gave the Cape
Town boxing fans something to
remember when they slugged it
out to decide the International
Lightweight championship.
The first three rounds were back
and forth action, and in round
four the power-punching Tyatyeka
floored Dyani with a vicious
left-right combination. In
addition Dyani was deducted a
point for a head butt, but
wasn’t deterred by the adversity
and kept on fighting hard for
the victory.
In the sixth Dyani leveled
things when he returned the
compliment by knocking down
Tyatyeka with a huge right hand.
Tyatyeka gamely made it to his
feet to get right back in
action, and again the two
warriors fought their hearts
out, banging away from all
angles.
In round eight Dyani was clearly
getting hurt by some massive
shots from Tyatyeka, but somehow
he managed to survive the round
and continue to fight back. It
was nothing short of astonishing
what these two warriors went
through to come out on top.
But the end finally came in
round nine when Tyatyeka knocked
down Dyani hard for the second
time, and this time the brave
man from Khayelitsha couldn’t
beat the count of referee Eddie
Marshall. It was almost five
minutes before he was able to
get back on his feet and was
cheered by the grateful crowd.
New WBF International
Lightweight Champion Tyatyeka is
now 13-2 (11), and Diany falls
to 11-2 (6). Judges were
Clifford Mbulo, Rassie Erasmus
and Isaac Tshabalala. Promoter:
Commando Kalekuzi. |
