Team SA dominated the final day of the boxing competition at the Region 5 Youth Games with five golds and two silver medals out of the 10 finals that were staged, writes GARY LEMKE in Maseru.
Of the five golds, there were impressive exhibitions of punching power from Tisetso Matikinca in the boys 54kg division and Sineselwa Mbatha in the boys 63.5kg weight class. Matikinca, the 17-year-old ranked No1 in South Africa, disposed of Eswatini’s Dlala Bafo in the first round.
Matikinca, who also carried his country’s flag at these Games, was aggressive from the opening bell and forced a standing eight-count. He quickly went onto the front foot and a vicious body shot sucked the air out of his opponent and the referee had already seen enough, waving the contest over.
A couple of weight divisions up saw Mbatha finish off Namibia’s Onesmus Martine in the second round. The 18-year-old Mbatha threw bombs from the outset, and plenty of them landed flush on his opponent fighting out of the red corner. Having forced two standing counts out of his opponent, another cracking right hand exploded on Martine’s jaw and as his eyes widened the referee climbed between the boxers and the South African had won gold.
Although Khuzwayo Lindokhule was taken the full three-round distance in the boys 60kg final, where he was handed the points verdict against Angola’s Konde Luemba, the pair were involved in the most entertaining fight on the afternoon’s card.
There didn’t seem to be too much love lost between the fighters and while both landed a lot, it was Lindokhule’s whose hands were heavier and his punches carried more authority. He also showed a willingness to mix it up to the head and body.
The other two gold medals for Team SA also came in the boys, and both were also on points.
Moyiso Booi (51kg) was awarded a split points decision over Zambia’s Mwale Mwengo in a result that didn’t go down well with the crowd, although the deciding factor would have been Mwengo taking an eight-count in the second round.
Southpaw Siseko Teyise also won gold, gliding to a points win in the -48kg category over Zambia’s Sisongo Mathews.
Team SA’s two girls in the finals, Luyolo Nketsheni (52kg) and Likho Nxele (48kg) both lost on the day and had to settle for silver medals.
Photo: Roger Sedres