Hlatshwayo Dominates Baloyi to Take IBO Title.

Issac Hlatshwayo dropped the more experienced Cassius Baloyi with a right hand in the second round of their bout tonight in Carnival City, South Africa and went on to record a unanimous decision. With the victory, “The Angel” assumes the vacant IBO lightweight title and furthers his solid top five world ranking. The twenty-seven-year-old Soweto resident, 22-0 (9), established his authority from the first bell and by the later rounds was delivering a beating to the older man. Baloyi had his moments but simply could not cope with the much larger and more powerful Hlatshwayo over the course of the twelve-round contest, losing by scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 119-108. The thirty-year-old Johannesburg warrior falls to 31-2 (16).

On the under-card, seasoned battler Andre Thysse retained his South African super middleweight belt in a tougher than expected scrap with young upstart Daniel Bruwer. It was touch and go for the thirty-six-year-old Thysse, 18-4 (10), who needed a sterling final round to secure the close unanimous decision. The heavy-handed Bruwer, nicknamed “Billy the Kid,” falls to 11-1 (11) but showed that he could compete at a much higher level than he had previously traded in.

Rounding out the action, former domestic super bantamweight champion Edward Mpofu failed in his attempt to win the vacant South African featherweight crown, dropping a split decision to Malcolm Klaasen. The new champion improves to 15-3-2 (8) while Mpofu slips to 14-7-3 (3).

Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com