South African Thato Bonokoane won the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) Intercontinental Super Bantamweight title on Sunday (October 24) at City Hall in Pietermaritzburg, defeating fellow countryman Tholomusa Ngema.
It was a very competitive bout, and, despite scoring a knock-down in round three, Bonokoane was behind on two of the judges cards when he managed to stop Ngema in the seventh round.
Fighting well off the back-foot, Bonokoane hurt Ngema with a right hand counter, and followed up effectively to floor his opponent who was not able to beat the count of referee Sipho Zondo a second time.
“Captain Charisma”, the new Intercontinental champion who held the WBF All Africa title between 2017 and 2018, improved his professional record to 11-4-3 (8).
Ngema, a former WBF International title-holder, drops to 5-2-3 (1). The 26-year-old however proved that he has the skills to come back strong in the future.
The fight headlined a show promoted by Nomvelo Boxing Promotions.
