By Mesuli Zifo
South African Noni Thenge affirmed her status as one of the best female fighters in the world pound for pound when she scored an impressive fourth round knockout of New Zealander Daniella Smith to lift the IBF world welterweight crown at Carnival City in Brakpan, South Africa, on Saturday night.
Thenge, who is by far the most polished female fighter in the country, did not disappoint her pro-crowd as she ruthlessly cut down Smith to size with vicious body punches as early as the third round.
Smith who was vying for the second defence of the title she won by beating German Jennifer Retzke in Berlin last November, suddenly realized that her African foe was much more capable than her when she could not dominate the fight even though she had thrown every punch in the book in the first two rounds.
By this time Thenge appeared to be studying the New Zealander and when she began to get down to business it was a matter of time before she engraved her name into the history books.
A booming right hand in the second round appeared to be taking the sails off the wind for Smith and after that early scare she fought tentatively for the rest of the round.
Thenge upped the tempo in the following frame, directing her attack to the New Zealander’s elongated body forcing Smith to wince, grab and backpedal amid the body bombardment coming her way.
But Thenge would shrug off Smith’s attempts to grab, leaving her off balance as she intensified the body attack.
Dropping her hands to protect her body, Smith left himself exposed upstairs for Thenge’s sneaky two punch combo that wobbled her every time they hit home.
One such attack staggered Smith towards the ropes where Thenge’s ensuing fusillade all but ended the fight only for the bell to come to the visitor’s rescue.
Bidding her time, Thenge initiated her attack behind a jab until Smith dropped her guard just less than ten seconds before the end of the round.
Thenge seized the opportunity to fire home successive big right hands sending Smith crashing and folding up in a neutral corner where she remained until she was revived by the ringside doctor.
“I knew that she could not take my power especially when I went to her body,” said a delighted Thenge who moved to 12 wins, a draw with nine stoppages.
“I am just too good for them right now.”
Smith who could hardly after the fight, dropped to two defeats in 12 bouts.
In another bout Jeffrey Mathebula took an uneventful split decision victory over homeboy Oscar Chauke in an IBF junior featherweight eliminator with IBF champion Takalani Ndlovu watching from ringside.
Chauke appeared to distabilise Mathebula’s rhythm every time he backed him up but when the battle was fought at a distance the taller Mathebula was able to score with crisp punches even though the bout was characterized by several misses by both combatants.
Other results: Zolani Tete tko 7 Olebokeng Motseki (jnr bantam), Jackson Chauke TD Mluleki Fikile (fly), Ilunga Makabu KO 1 Collice Mutizwa (heavy), Ryno Liebenburg TKO2 Caster Ndou ( light heavy).
