Limbani Masamba snatches Msoliza’s belt
Limbani ‘Lion’ Masamba triumphed over Ernest ‘Warrior’ Msoliza in a highly-contested 12-round super welterweight title bout at Robin’s Park in Blantyre on Friday evening.
He won by a unanimous points decision after the judges scored (118-112, 118-113, 117-110) in his favour.
He, however, had to sweat to earn the belt against a strong-willed Msoliza, who skilfully used his guard, body punches and endurance to avoid a knockout.
It was only in the last round that Msoliza appeared to be easily giving in to his taller-opponent when he got knocked down twice and sustained a cut just above his right eye.
But the fight was tightly matched in most cases, where it turned into a back-and-forth swap of hooks in the face.
“This was one of my toughest fights in the professional ranks,” explained Masamba, who has improved his record to 14 wins in 19 bouts.
“Msoliza really deserved to be called the ‘warrior’ because he persevered my hard punches. I could have easily earned a knockout triumph had it not been for this.”
Msoliza, whose record now stands at six wins, two draws and eight losses, rushed to the dressing room to nurse his battered face.
Masamba has now secured two wins in two months following his knockout victory over a Namibian boxer.
In supporting bouts Chrispin Moliati triumphed over Laston Kayira while Charles Misanjo, Emmanuel Chimanja and Zimbabwe’s Kudakwashe Chiwandire plucked technical knockout wins against Bright Mdoka, Yusuf Ali and Duduzire Kam’mwamba, respectively.n
