Moses retains WBO International Lightweight title

Paulus Moses retained his WBO International Lightweight title with a sixth round knockout over Josenilson dos Santos of Brazil on Saturday night.

Moses put Dos Santos down with a crunching left hook to the midriff of the Brazilian who crashed down to the canvas and was counted out 2 minutes 14 seconds into the sixth round.

Before that the fight was quite even as the Brazilian impressed with his hand speed, his jab and quick combinations.

Moses however also raked in the points with his sharp jab and punches on the counterattack.

Dos Santos was accidentally thrown to the ground in the third round and seemed to hurt his knee but he managed to continue.

In the fourth round Moses landed a big uppercut that stunned Dos Santos but the Brazilian soon came back with his quick jab and combinations.

The quick tempo continued unabated with both boxers landing sharp jabs and combinations but the end came suddenly and out of the blue when Moses felled Dos Santos with a crunching body blow that sent the Brazilian down and out.

There was a major shock in the main curtain raiser though when Dario Pucheta from Argentina beat Tyson Ushona on a seventh round technical knockout in an international welterweight fight.

The powerful Argentinian caught Ushona in the corner and put him down with a barrage of punches. Ushona managed to get up but was clearly in trouble and Pucheta was all over him before the referee Timo Haikonda stepped in to stop the fight.

Before that the fight was quite even with both boxers giving as good as they got.

After a cagey first round, Pucheta landed a big hook but Ushona came back with some strong combinations at the end of the round.

Pucheta picked up the tempo in the third and fourth rounds when he landed some big hooks but Ushona came back strongly in the fifth, when he laid into Pucheta with a barrage of punches on the ropes.

But Pucheta’s power started to tell in the sixth round when he caught a retreating Ushona with a hook that put him down for the first time, although Ushona immediately got up.

By the seventh round, Pucheta was clearly in control and it was not long before he cornered Ushona and put him down with a strong barrage of punches, and although Ushona beat the count, the referee stopped the fight, two minutes 13 seconds into the round.

In an international cruiserweight fight Vikapita Meroro beat Walter Cabral of Argentina on a sixth round TKO, when Cabral failed to come out for the seventh round after a cut above his eye.

The fight itself was not much of a spectacle, with a lot of clinching and holding on and few clean shots landed. Meroro however had a significant reach advantage which he used to good effect and was well ahead on points when the fight ended, with all three judges scoring 60-54 in his favour.

In an entertaining welterweight encounter, Peter Malakia beat Tommy Hango on a unanimous points decision over eight rounds, with the judges scoring it 78-74, 77-75, 79-75 in his favour.

Both boxers gave the fans plenty to cheer about, with some toe to toe slugfests, but Malakia used his longer reach to good effect and raked in the points with a steady jab.

In an international light heavyweight fight, Wilberforce Shihepo beat Tineyi Maridzo of Zimbabwe on a unanimous points decision over eight rounds.

It was not much of a spectacle, with short bursts of action interspersed by long clinches, but Shihepo showed more aggression and comfortably won the fight 79-73, 78-74, 80-72 on points.

In an international welterweight fight Sackey Shikukutu beat Lawrence Moyo of Zimbabwe on a third round knockout when he put Moyo down with a powerful body punch 1 minute 47 seconds into the round.

In an international super bantamweight fight, Nathaneal Kamati beat Thato Monabana of Botswana on a fourth round TKO when Monabana failed to come out for the fifth round.

In a junior lightweight fight, Jeremia Nakathila beat Tebogo Kagiso of Botswana on a unanimous points decision over four rounds, 39-37, 40-36, 39-37.

Simeon Shafodino and Gomotsang Gaasite of Botswana drew their international welterweight fight over four rounds. Two judges scored it a draw – 38-38 and 39-39, while a third scored it 39-37 in Shafodino’s favour.

In a welterweight fight Ebenestus Kaangundwe beat Theo Ben Kativa on a unanimous points decision over four rounds with all three judges scoring it 40-36 in Kaangundwe’s favour.

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