Boxing In South Africa: N’dou Keeps IBO With Mwelase Draw

Last night at Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park, IBO welterweight champion Lovemore N’dou showed challenger Bongani Mwelase that fights are won in the ring, not pre-fight press conferences.

The previously undefeated southpaw Mwelase made many headlines during the media build up when he declared that he would become the first boxer to KO the 39 year old N’dou, which greatly irritated the champion.

As soon as the contest began, N’dou got right to work, nullifying the 28 year old Mwelase’s considerable height and reach advantages by cutting down the distance and firing off his punches first.

Mwelase made the tactical error of looking for opportunities to land a big punch while N’dou boxed clever, building up a lead by outworking the challenger and using angles to keep his opponent off balance.

By the later rounds N’dou started to wear down from his earlier efforts but the challenger simply didn’t have the experience to take advantage of the situation and while he swept those frames, Mwelase was down too many points and needed a knockout to ensure victory.

After the 12 rounds were completed, N’dou took two of the cards by margins of 117-112 and 115-113 while Mwelase was awarded the third with a score of 115-113.

N’dou wins by split decision, retaining his IBO crown for the second time and seeing his record to 48-11-2 (31). Mwelase loses for the first time, standing now at 14-1 (12).