| |
|
MTHALANE TKO SAKAMOTO IN 10, RETAINS IBF FLYWEGHT BELT
By Dong Secuya PhilBoxing.com Mon, 31 Dec 2018

MACAU ? Wily veteran IBF world flyweight champion Moruti Mthalane of South Africa gave his upstart challenger Masahiro Sakamoto a boxing lesson by dominating the Japanese the whole night en route to a 10th round stoppage to retain his belt at the Grand Theater of the Wynn Palace Cotai Monday evening here.
Mthalane (37-2-0, 25KOs) used his outstanding boxing skill to outpoint Sakamoto (13-2-0, 9KOs) every round in a toe-to-toe fight that happened mostly in the center of the ring and without clinching, just plain throwing strategic in your face punches. It was this kind of exchanges that the fighter from South Africa, who captured his first world title in 2009, excelled and homed in lefts and rights to Sakamot's body and head eluding Sakamoto's defenses.
Mthalane piled up points as the rounds progressed but Sakamoto refused to surrender and tried very hard to penetrate Mthalane's solid defenses and sometimes connecting with lefts to the body and rights to the head but these were few and in between.
By the sixth round Mthalane was looking to stop his opponent by landing heavier and crisper blows but the Japanese refused to die and kept on going forward. By the eight round, Mthalane's punishments left marks on Sakamoto's body, inflicting a cut on the right eyebrow and his right eye almost closed. Referee Ignatius Missalidis had the ring physician checked Sakamoto after the 8th round and at the beginning of the 10th round. After Sakamoto received more heavy punches in the 10rh round, the referee decided he had seen enough and stopped the fight for a TKO victory for Mthalane.
Next up.. the main event between Donnie Nietes of the Philippines against Kazuto Ioka of Japan for the vacant WBO world super flyweight championship.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
“Pitbull” Cruz Battles Skilled Lamont Roach Next! By Carlos Costa, , Fri, 10 Oct 2025Eddie Hearn Warns: Dana White's Push to Amend Ali Act Could Hide Fighter Revenues and Undermine Boxer Protections By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Fri, 10 Oct 2025SEBASTIAN "EL TRUENO" JUAREZ TRAINING CAMP NOTES , Fri, 10 Oct 2025WBC No. 2 Cruiserweight Ryan Rozicki reinjured , Fri, 10 Oct 2025DAVE ALLEN VS ARSLANBEK MAKHMUDOV SHEFFIELD PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES , Fri, 10 Oct 2025HANOI OPEN DAY TWO: CHUA, GORST, BIADO, SHAW AND DUONG CRUISE INTO LAST 64 IN HANOI , Fri, 10 Oct 2025BOSTAN AND FAWAZ TRADE VERBAL BLOWS IN SHEFFIELD CITY CENTRE FACE-OFF AHEAD OF TITLE REMATCH – LIVE ON DAZN , Fri, 10 Oct 2025Yoelvis Gomez Set to Face Unbeaten Antraveous Ingram in Title Clash on DAZN , Fri, 10 Oct 2025Dante Kirkman Set to Make Southern California Debut Against Power Puncher Wesley Vanderlinden on October 23 at Fight Club OC , Fri, 10 Oct 20258th AQ Prime FIDE Standard Open chessfest slated By Dong Secuya, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025A Filipino and an American Homecoming By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025Tragedy Strikes Again: Arturo Gatti Jr., Son of Boxing Legend, Found Dead at 17 in Mexico By Dong Secuya, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025Golden State Making a Bid for NBA Title By Teodoro Medina Reynoso, , Thu, 09 Oct 2025JOHANN CHUA LAUNCHES TITLE DEFENCE WITH DOMINANT START IN HANOI | 2025 HANOI OPEN POOL CHAMPIONSHIP , Thu, 09 Oct 2025RED-HOT CUBAN MIDDLEWEIGHT YOENLI HERNANDEZ: “I’M READY WILLING AND ABSOLUTELY ABLE TO FACE THE BIG NAMES IN MY DIVISION.” , Thu, 09 Oct 2025BOOTS ENNIS GOES HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH LIMA AHEAD OF 154LB DEBUT – LIVE ON DAZN , Wed, 08 Oct 2025ALLEN AND MAKHMUDOV MEET FOR FIRST FACE-OFF IN SHEFFIELD AHEAD OF HUGE HEAVYWEIGHT SHOWDOWN – LIVE ON DAZN , Wed, 08 Oct 2025Amateur Boxer Tyrone Welch Dies After Match in Saginaw By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025AJ Lim Captures Fourth PCA Men’s Singles Title, Extends Dominance in Philippine Tennis By Marlon Bernardino, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 18: JOE FRAZIER VS. GEORGE FOREMAN FIRST ENCOUNTER - THE SUNSHINE SHOWDOWN By Maloney L. Samaco, , Wed, 08 Oct 20255th Zhengxing Cup Philippine Xiangqi Rapid Open tournament on October 12 By Marlon Bernardino, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025Joey Canoy back in training; preparing to face IBF champ Beaven Sibanda in February By Lito delos Reyes, , Wed, 08 Oct 2025RED OWL BOXING ANNOUNCES BROADCAST TEAM AND FULL FIGHT CARD FOR THIS FRIDAY NIGHT’S “BOXFEST XVI” , Wed, 08 Oct 2025Tyson Fury back in 2026? By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Tue, 07 Oct 2025THE PAST WEEK IN ACTION 6 OCTOBER 2025: Cecilia Braekhaus Retires After Defeating Ema Kozin By Eric Armit, , Tue, 07 Oct 2025 |

|
|
|
|
|