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Sitting in the Premier Hotel in
Johannesburg, South Africa, with
WBF Executive Committee member
Eddie Marshall just prior to our
double world title fight in
Soweto a few weeks ago, another
boxing personality sitting with
us, asked me to list my favorite
fights that I have supervised as
the President of the World
Boxing Federation.
There are and were so many that
it was hard to actually find
definitively the favorites but
being on the spot I decided on
the following fights for the
following reasons.
1. Juan José Montes vs. Oscar
Ibarra (Guadalajara, Mexico, WBF
Fight of the Year 2012). This
fight was exceptional and fought
by two extreme warriors. Both
fighters went toe to toe for 12
rounds without taking a backward
step. Blood flew in all
directions, and the crowd was on
its feet throughout. An
unforgettable fight.
2. Holly Holm vs. Ann Sophie
Mathis (Albuquerque, USA, WBF
Female Fight of the Year 2012).
The two best women in the world
fighting for the second time. A
great fight with the power of
Mathis against the slick skills
of Holm.
A packed arena of a few thousand
were thrilled by the skills of
two of the best woman fighters
of all time.
3.Evander Holyfied vs. Francois
Botha (Las Vegas, USA, WBF Fight
of the Year 2010). Legend
Evander Holyfield against my
good friend Fransie Botha.
Perhaps both slightly past their
best at this point, but the
excitement within the crowd to
see Evander fighting, which was
possibly one of his final
fights, was just so memorable.
Botha of course almost upset the
party winning the first half of
the fight but his usual lack of
conditioning resulted in
Holyfield acquiring our title.
The final fight I have chosen
will surely be a surprise to
many but which was a fight that
I will remember forever.
4. Thembani Mbangatha v
Mayihlomo Mjonono (Cape Town,
South Africa, 2017). This was a
fight for the regional WBF
All-Africa title and was
exciting and toe to toe again
until the drama unfolded in
round seven.
Unbeaten Mbangatha was boxing
beautifully against the tough
Mjonono when he threw a wild
left hook only to miss and for
the crowd to witness his
shoulder popping out. It was a
frightening sight and one which
everyone thought would result in
Mbangatha’s team having to
concede.
There was much discussion during
the one minute break, and
astonishingly Mbangatha came out
in round eight, still with his
shoulder hanging helplessly and
decided he would box one handed.
He did, and did so incredibly,
actually winning the round on
all three judges’ scorecards.
In the next one minute break,
his team managed to pop the
shoulder back in place, and
Mbangatha now 9-0 proceeded to
win the fight.
There are many other memorable
fights I have either supervised,
refereed and judged (in the old
days) and the list is too long
to mention in this column, but
it is not always the high
profile fights that are the most
memorable.
Until next time, keep boxing.
Howard Goldberg
PRESIDENT: World Boxing
Federation
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