By Chris LaBate

At Carnival City in Brakpan, South Africa, IBF mini-flyweight champion Nkosinathi Joyi (21-0-1, 15KOs) retained the title with a three round no-contest in his main event battle with challenger Katsunari Takayama (24-4-1, 10KOs) of Japan. After a clash of heads in the third, Takayama suffered a very bad cut along the hairline and the ref stopped it at 1:59. Because four rounds had not been completed, the fight was ruled a no-contest.

Leading up to the clash of heads, Joyi was in full control and appeared to be on his way to a knockout win. Takayama was quicker but faced a serious disadvantage in size and power in the fight.

In the co-feature, Argenis Mendez (18-1, 9KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over veteran and former champion Cassius Baloyi (37-6, 19KOs) in an IBF junior lightweight eliminator. Mendez dropped Baloyi in the first round and outclassed him with combinations and rapid fire body shots for the rest of the contest. The scores were 117-110, 117-111 and 117-110.