Corry Ihuhua
18 November 2008
Parys — As witnessed by CORRY IHUHUA who was ringside during the World Boxing Federation (WBF) welterweight world title fight between Namibia's Ali Nuumbembe and South Africa's Bongani Mwelase at the ARWA Ride Hall in Parys, South Africa, on Friday ROUND 1 A dull first round as both boxers tested the waters in anticipation of a long bloody night of sweat and tears in the end.
Most punches were misdirected and did not matter in any major way despite a roaring crowd that backed the home boy.
ROUND 2 Nuumbembe tested Mwelase with several body shots, with his tall figure giving him the advantage of launching a string of punches from a distance.
Mwelase wasted little time and ignited the fight into a more competitive affair, catching Nuumbembe with good head shots.
The Namibian did not succumb and despite the deafening noise from the crowd urging on Mwelase, Nuumbembe soaked up the pressure well.
But an impressive uppercut got Nuumbembe out of trouble.
He capitalised on poor defence by Mwelase and briefly had him on the back foot, but his biggest downfall was an ineffective follow-up, which gave his opponent time to recover before the bell rang for the end of the round.
ROUND 3 Mwelase was instructed to down Nuumbembe in the third round because the Namibian could cause problems if the fight continued.
But that was not the case.
Despite trying to move in closer and get in those jabs, Nuumbembe did not allow himself to get entangled and quickly stepped out of the web and his most powerful blow was towards Mwelase's nose that caused him to bleed before they broke for the fourth round.
Both fighters were on the offensive, but were defensively vulnerable.
ROUND 4 Nuumbembe started with punches to the head as he uncovered the slow response by Mwelase to close up as quick after dispatching his punches.
Mwelase continued to suffer due to his poor defence, but with each punch, Nuumbembe started showing signs of exhaustion.
At this point, Mwelase was bleeding heavily from his nose and hanged on to the end of the round, despite piling up a bit of pressure onto Nuumbembe as he freely knocked him twice on the head, while he let time tick by as he held on to the Namibian.
ROUND 5 Nuumbembe's right eye was heavily swollen and appeared to have hindered his vision, while the home boy had his nose flooding with blood deep into the second minute already.
Mwelase took this round and landed a couple of substantial punches that had Nuumbembe gasping for air and clearly looking tired.
But Nuumbembe stood his man and responded well, while his plus point before the end of the round was his great ability to absorb the pressure.
Endurance and stamina carried him through.
ROUND 6 This round soundly underlined the form in which Nuumbembe was.
He was exhausted, but tried to hide it.
He took some punishment and in the process tried his best to give Mwelase back of the little that he had in his tank.
His occasional hops to position himself and to re-focus were clear signs that he was simply trying to hang in there.
He survived the round and despite his opponent also steadily getting out of sorts, Nuumbembe had little impact.
ROUND 7 This was a refreshing round until the second minute when Mwelase caught Nuumbembe with a powerful right hook that completely shook the Namibian and caused him to lose focus.
Nuumbembe staggered woefully and the South African took the chance to attack mercilessly by showering blows that propelled him to another famous win.
Referee Darryl Ribbink did not consider a count and ruled off the fight at 2 minutes and 22 seconds, after Nuumbembe found himself hanging onto the ropes.
The bout was scheduled for 12 rounds.
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