Ghana Action

George Ashie, aka Red Dragon, shocked the throng of fans who came to see their idol Abdul Malik Jabir when he easily dismissed his opponent in the opening round of their highly anticipated ten round Super Featherweight grudge match. Bukom Snake, as Jabir is known to his legions, was put under early pressure from a blistering body shot. Ashie calmly moving forward with measured head movement, then connected with a blistering combo capped off by a straight right which deposited the former ABU champ on the seat of his pants. Jabir beat the count but was unresponsive to the ref who waved it off immediately causing a mid-ring confrontation with Jabir's corner. Minor chaos ensued in the ring as officials had to separate Jabir and Ashie from continuing their fisticuffs but eventually calmer heads prevailed. Ashie, improving to 21-3-1, next faces world class countryman Maxwell Awuku for the vacant Commonwealth Super featherweight belt. Jabir drops his eighth fight in twenty-three matches but continues to remain one of the biggest draws in Ghana.

Earlier, Nigerian strongman Sunday King Hammer made known his presence to local fans combining a bit of showboating with punching power to seemingly dominate stylish local Middleweight contender Laatekwei Hammond for the vacant interim WBO Africa belt. Though Hammer, entering with a 12-2 record, rocked the shorter Ghanaian several times during the bout, he failed to follow up strongly time and again allowing the fight to be determined by the three Ghanaian judges. End result, the local lad was crowned the new champion on a twelve round split decision. The Nigerian visitor, though visibly upset, was gracious in defeat and asked for a rematch while his manager, Elum Onyeka, filed protests with the WBO and Ghanaian commission delegates while also claiming an attempt at bribery by the opponent's camp immediately before the match. Hammond improves to 17-5.

In a scheduled twelve rounder, vet campaigner Prosper Ankrah put on a deft display of boxing skills in dismantling his southpaw opponent Michael Barnor in six rounds for the vacant National Bantamweight title. Ankrah improves to a reported 13-2 while Barnor, a recent challenger for the WBO Africa Super Bantamweight belt, drops to 9-2-2. The popular Ben Ankrah, otherwise known as "Congo Soldier", made it four wins in a row on the comeback trail with a second round blowout over mismatched novice King Adams in a Lightweight encounter scheduled for ten. Congo Soldier improves to 15-10. Rising prospect Richard Commey, also at Lightweight, stayed unbeaten in five outings with a second round decapitation of the winless Dan Quartey in a bout scheduled for eight.

Two other eight rounders saw vets Bilal Mohammad and Osumanu Akaba stay busy against very soft opposition. Super Lightweight Mohammad collected his nineteenth win against four losses but struggled in an uneventful outing against perennial loser Emmanuel Quaye to eek out a split decision win. In the show opener, former WBC International Featherweight title holder Akaba, now performing at Lightweight, bored fans for six rounds against novice Tackie Annan until their cornermen mercifully pulled their man out between rounds. Akaba raises his stats to 25-5-1.

Title Action - Namibia, South Africa

The National Super Featherweight Title fight between defending champ Godfrey Nzimande and mandatory challenger Ayanda Yaphi spilled over into the East London crowd who vent their frustration at what they considered a premature eighth round stoppage in favor of the visiting champ. Local hero Yaphi, covered in blood from an accidental headbutt in the second round, was able to lure the more experienced Nzimande into a street brawl. And although getting hit frequently, reportedly fought back gallantly to connect time and again until the sudden stoppage. Nzimande, a multiple titlist, escaped the hostile crowd and collected his twenty-fourth win against three defeats and two draws. The mandatory challenger drops to 9-2-1.

In neighboring Namibia, WBA Pan-African Flyweight champion Joseph Hlongwa retained his title with a hard fought, unanimous twelve round decision over Zimbabwean challenger Tinaze Mashiwana. The Namibian is now unbeaten in thirteen fights, while the visitor goes home with a reported 7-4 ledger. A heavyweight four rounder saw Simasiku Matengu improve to 1-1 with a unanimous decision over Toiva Kamati, handing him his second straight loss. In a six round Featherweight bout, local lad Tony Nakashimba scored his seventh win in eleven matches with a points win over Zimbabwean loser Ronald Tamani who dropped his sixth fight against only one victory. Another Featherweight six rounder witnessed a rare matchup of boxers with losing records as Joseph Katenda barely picked up his second win in twelve fights with a split points victory over Matheus Kandara, now 2-4. As is usually the case when two losers fight tooth and nail for a rare chance to collect a "W", the winners are the fans. Lightweight Albinus Felesianu collected his seventh scalp in eleven outings with a first round execution of visiting Dumezweni Ntulikiwho who returns home to Zimbabwe with a 2-2-1 record. Welterweight Lukas Ndafoluma scored his second win with a four round split decision over debuting Steven Tjimbonde.

Olusegun vs Cheba World Title Eliminator

A WBC Super Lightweight world title eliminator between Nigeria's Olusegun Ajose and Canada-based French-Algerian Ali Chebah is set for September 30th at the Chumash Casino in California. The London-based southpaw has held the Nigerian, ABU, WBF Intercontinental, British, and Commonwealth belts in compiling an unblemished 29-0 record while Algerian hero Chebah has lost only once in thirty-seven outings and is the proud owner of the WBC Youth and North American Boxing Federation belts.

While the two boxers sport impressive records, a closer look at the level of their opposition suggests that the pair must consider themselves very lucky to be involved in a fight that will give them a mandatory crack at the world title. And with world champ Timothy Bradley's managerial woes forcing him to be declared "Champion In Recess" by the WBC, this may pave the way for a direct shot at the newly vacant belt.

Results

On the undercard of Lamont Peterson's IBF Super Lightweight title eliminator twelfth round KO over Victor Manuel Cayo last Friday, Kenya's Douglas Otieno was predictably dispatched in only two rounds in his attempt at the vacant NABA Light Heavyweight title against 15-0 Russian Sergey Kovalev. The globe-trotting Otieno, in this his first trip to the US, loses away from home again for the seventh time against twenty-three wins, all at home. Another undercard match on the Las Vegas show saw Gambia-born Swede Badou Jack (pictured) dispatch normally durable American Timothy Hall with a body shot in the second of a Super Middleweight four. The twenty-seven year old Olympian improves to 7-0 while Hall loses for the twelfth time in eighteen outings.

Also on Friday, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut, US-based puncher Paul Mpendo of Uganda could not land the big one and let former WBA World champion Jose Antonio Rivera get away with a unanimous decision in a Super Welter matchup scheduled for eight.

Same day in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzanian spectators at the Millenium Hall witnessed a club show topped by a six round rubber match between local Super Bantamweight contenders Hassan Kidebe and Shaban Mtengela. Their first encounter back in December produced fireworks with both boxers visiting the canvas before Mtengela was able to squeeze out a four round decision. A rematch was in order and in April, the two fought to a draw, again over four rounds. This time, upgraded to a six, the score still unsettled with the ref scoring it three rounds a piece. Mtengela goes home with his third draw against six wins and four losses while Kidebe closes out at 11-4-4. In other four rounders, unbeaten Lightweight, Salehe Mkalekwa, took a unanimous decision over Edward Luanda, both in their fourth paid matches. The loser has not seen a victory since his debut at Light Flyweight in 2007. Still at Lightweight, Mohamedi Kashinde notched his second win in as many fights with a third round KO over debuting Maulid Muhsin. At Bantamweight, another debutante, Bashiru Mkumbukwa, dropped a shutout decision to a very happy Dickson Kawiani celebrating his first victory in six outings. In the same division, Elias Nyampala outpointed Hamis Machachari while at featherweight, Mohammed Kondo topped Omari Makame, all making their pro debuts.

Dar-es-Salaam fans enjoyed another fight card on Saturday, this time at the DDC Keko Hall featuring two ancient warhorses and a pair of female matchups. Forty-one year old ex-IBF Africa Super Welterweight kingpin Maneno Oswald scored his thirty-seventh win against thirty-three defeats and three draws with a fifth round KO over the very faded former Tanzanian Welterweight champion Ernest Bujiku in a Middleweight encounter scheduled for six. A female Super Lightweight encounter witnessed the return to action of Jamhuri Said after a disastrous 2007 pro debut first round KO loss to world-rated Kenyan Fatuma Zarika. This time, the Tanzanian evened her ledger out at 1-1 with a six round points victory over Zarika's country-mate Rukia Nasarite, now 5-7-4. In the second female pairing, Fadhila Balawa and Asha Mzoa, both making their pro debuts, battled to a four round draw at Super Bantamweight.

Former ABU and IBF African Super Middleweight champion Joseph Marwa, now campaigning at Cruiserweight, took a heavyweight fight in Russia against 3-1 Albanian novice Bedarin Toma. But although Marwa was thirty-eight fights more experienced than his opponent, Toma made up for it with seventy-four more pounds in weight (33 kgs). Result; Marwa suffered two knockdowns en route to dropping an eight round decision. Top Tanzanian Super Welterweight contender Selemani Said travelled to Ukraine to take on undefeated Oleksandr Spyrko for a shot at the vacant IBO Youth Super Welterweight title on Saturday, but was rebuffed on the scorecards after going the ten round distance. Spyrko notched his sixteenth straight while Selemani stats drop to 10-4-2.

In Brooklyn, New York, Johannesburg-born US resident Danie van Staden, alias "The White Lion", suffered his seventh defeat and fifth KO loss with eight wins when he was brutally dispatched in the third by local undefeated Super Lightweight hero Gabriel Bracero. The winner, improving to 17-0, managed only his third knockout, but ironically connected with what is said to be one of the hardest punches of the year so far.