[dkos]

Their two best boxers - Nkosinathi Joyi and Moruti Mthalane - are in action, both defending their IBF titles away from home. Joyi takes on the underrated Mario Rodriguez in Mexico, which is a voluntary defence I believe, and Mthalane travels to Panama to face dangerous mandatory Ricardo Nunez.

Zolani Tete, one of SA's best prospects, is also fighting tonight, travelling to Argentina to take on the unbeaten Roberto Domingo Sosa in an IBF eliminator.

When these three fights have been overlooked, it kind of tells you how great today has been for boxing fans :yep

Anyway, how do you feel these fights will go? :think

 

[Marvelous Marv]

Not seen Tete. Can you describe him, kos?

 

[dkos]

Not seen Tete. Can you describe him, kos?

Ha, long time since I've seen him mate, but I'll try :yep

From what I remember, he's a stylish outside boxer who likes to fight on the back foot. He kept Mthalane at bay for 2-3 rounds, but his inexperience let him down in that one and he was walked down in the end. But I seen enough from him in that fight to suggest he has something about him.

 

[dkos]

Rather mixed night to say the least...

Joyi stopped in the 7th in a shocker, whilst he was perhaps their most bankable fighter to get the win beforehand.

Tete dropped a split decision, with all three cards being 115-114 (2 to Sosa, 1 to Tete).

Mthalane, however, pulled off an 8th round stoppage over Nunez after both had hit the canvas earlier in the fight.

 

[Flea Man]

Tete is a long southpaw who uses the left uppercut as his go to punch, can shoot it from the outside or closer up. Pretty vulnerable though it seems, touted as a huge banger a few years back but suffered a brain injury of some sort.

 

[ScouseLeader]

Very surprised that Joyi got knocked out. Anyone know much about the opponent?

 

[dkos]

Joyi-Rodriguez:

[video=dailymotion;xt91dt]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt91dt_2012-09-01-nkosinathi-joyi-vs-mario-rodriguez_sport?search_algo=2[/video]

Mthalane vs Nunez (only HL's; would be shocking if the full fight isn't out there):

[video=dailymotion;xt88yx]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xt88yx_2012-09-01-moruti-mthalane-vs-ricardo-nunez-highlights_sport?search_algo=2[/video]

 

[Indigo Pab]

Very surprised that Joyi got knocked out. Anyone know much about the opponent?

I vaguely remembered hearing about Rodriguez before the fight was made, probably due to him having KO'd GKB earlier this year, but I hadn't seen any of his fights. Even from glancing at his BoxRec you can tell he's more than likely a better fighter than his pretty unflattering numbers suggest. The only fight of his I've seen since is the only one I could find, which is his draw against Pedro Guevara(the dude who dropped a split decision against Casimero not long ago).

Despite him being better than I anticipated I can't say I'm any less shocked by the upset he pulled on Saturday though. I mean, he's decent but appears fairly basic. Consistent pressure fighter, very much left-hand orientated, dodgy hair, and relatively solid defensively(seems like he can take a shot too). I'm guessing Joyi was winning comfortably before getting nailed by a left hook or something, I'd really be surprised if he wasn't winning the fight anyways. Then again I might be selling the dude short, he's only in his early 20's and his recent string of results suggest that he's ever-improving. In a stylistic sense he just seems too straight-forward and basic to really take rounds off Mabere consistently though, Joyi's a big straw and I would've thought he even could have played into Rodriguez's hands by fighting toe-to-toe and still won. Obviously not.

I'm damn disappointed with Joyi really, I rated the dude as much as I was frustrated by him.

 

[dkos]

Sosa-Tete

 

[ScouseLeader]

I vaguely remembered hearing about Rodriguez before the fight was made, probably due to him having KO'd GKB earlier this year, but I hadn't seen any of his fights. Even from glancing at his BoxRec you can tell he's more than likely a better fighter than his pretty unflattering numbers suggest. The only fight of his I've seen since is the only one I could find, which is his draw against Pedro Guevara(the dude who dropped a split decision against Casimero not long ago).

Despite him being better than I anticipated I can't say I'm any less shocked by the upset he pulled on Saturday though. I mean, he's decent but appears fairly basic. Consistent pressure fighter, very much left-hand orientated, dodgy hair, and relatively solid defensively(seems like he can take a shot too). I'm guessing Joyi was winning comfortably before getting nailed by a left hook or something, I'd really be surprised if he wasn't winning the fight anyways. Then again I might be selling the dude short, he's only in his early 20's and his recent string of results suggest that he's ever-improving. In a stylistic sense he just seems too straight-forward and basic to really take rounds off Mabere consistently though, Joyi's a big straw and I would've thought he even could have played into Rodriguez's hands by fighting toe-to-toe and still won. Obviously not.

I'm damn disappointed with Joyi really, I rated the dude as much as I was frustrated by him.

Thankyou.

Still shocked that Joyi got iced, I thought he was gonna go on to big things if I'm honest.

 

[dkos]

I watched the Joyi fight yesterday and I had him sweeping the first six rounds, although a couple of them were closeish. In the 7th, his defence became ragged and he repeatedly got tagged hard by Rodriguez, which resulted in him taking a knee near the end of the round and deciding not to get back up. Kind of reminded me of Linares-DeMarco as a recent example.

I was expecting Joyi to be worn down, because he was being backed up and made to work all the time by Rodriguez. Not only that, but he also faded in his last fight against Takayama. However, to me it looked like he seemed to be handling the pace. Although, in a recent interview, Joyi said: "...The problem was that I couldn't breathe properly because of the heat."

Who knows? :conf

Anyway, there will be a rematch by December according to Joyi. It was a very good fight (watch it if you get the chance), so I wouldn't mind seeing it again :good

http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/sport/2012/09/05/joyi-to-get-another-chance