Fights Arts weathers storm, pulls off bouts
Fight Arts Promotions pulled off an audacious boxing tournament at the Flamingo Casino in Kimberley over the weekend with a surprise international package plus a dose of local pugilists hoping to make it big in the fist game.
The promoters, Russel Bindeman and Partner Megan Bindeman, had to contend with unsporting weather too on Saturday afternoon. Dark clouds had built up after the lunch hour and hung heavily in the air only to finally break at the hour when the fist fights had to start.
The rain came down heavily and drenched most of Kimberley including the Flamingo Casino’s outdoor ring which stood smack bang in the middle of a carefully manicured lawn on the north side of the gambling house.
All fights were summarily shifted to the next day, Sunday. Even here the order of fights had to be rearranged as the fighters from out of town had to clear their engagements first before hitting the road.
Of the amateur selection of boxers for this bill Kimberley’s Mosa Ntlangula probably had the easiest payday of all.
Ntlangula had just started flexing his muscle while some spectators were making their way back to their seats after a comfort break when the referee Teboho Phetolo declared the fight over.
Ntlangula had dispensed with his flyweight opposite from Bloemfontein Tshepo Mokhele within a minute and 30 seconds of the first round of a scheduled four rounder.
The fight was over. The spectators were stunned. Mokhele was in a daze and Ntlangula, in a jubilant mood, did his thing of prancing around in the ring aided no less by his trainer King Kaybee Kasimba.
In the second last fight of the day, Johannesburg,based Sameer Mulla took on Free State’s Koena Mokoena in an exciting six-round featherweight encounter which ended in a split decision.
Despite both spotting a lowly fight record of three for Mokoena and at least three wins and three losses for Mulla, the two went for each other from the opening bell like fighters of old.
Mulla proved to be the more agile of the two boxers. He bobbed and weaved textbook style around Mokoena who inexplicably chose to stay upright and absorb punishing blows unnecessarily.
Mulla often stuck in with a flurry of ferocious blows to the head and torso all the while staying out of Mokoena’s reach. By the fourth round Mokoena was visibly tiring and Mulla used the chance to pin him to the ropes. In the end Mulla did enough to earn the judges majority decision.
The last fight was a lightweight match-up between South Africa’s Lancelot Moyo who came up against Democratic Republic of Congo’s Frank Ilunga. The pair had started out with heavy exchanges in the middle of the ring in the opening round.
Ilunga, who had started out with the right foot forward, soon realised it was going to be awkward against the gangly and wild swinging Moyo, quickly switched to the orthodox left foot stance.
Ilunga need not have bothered. Moyo had realised by the second round the Congolese had brought no lethal weapons to this battle.
Moyo pranced around the ring and pranked Ilunga. Were it not for the mouthguard Moyo would probably have stuck out his tongue too for the lame opponent he faced.
Moyo dropped his guard dangerously, swung a right fists in circles before landing on target. He stuck out his head to Ilunga and kicked back like a horse, all the while advancing on Ilunga who now preferred to spend the third and fourth rounds behind his guard.
Referee Teboho Phetolo realised Ilunga was not in the fight anymore midway in the fourth and waved a stop to the proceedings.
Moyo won the fight on a technical knockout.