Boxing In South Africa: Ali Funeka Crushes Zahir Raheem To Win IBF Eliminator

One of America’s top lightweights came to Jan Smuts Stadium in East London last night in search of a world title opportunity and in the eyes of many, Zahir Raheem was almost certain to return home to the US with that title challenge in his pocket.

After all, hadn’t Raheem easily defeated one of the best Mexican fighters in a generation, Eric Morales, and narrowly lost a heavily disputed split decision to Acelino Freitas?

And all Raheem had to do was get past local man Ali Funeka, who had never fought outside of his home country or faced the kind of competition that Raheem had been in the ring with.

But Funeka hadn’t been without success, having held the South African Super Feather crown over six defenses and the WBC International Lightweight strap for three bouts and was riding a 15 contest win streak stretching back six years.

The first round was largely a studying session for both men as they attempted to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the other in this packed stadium that usually hosts Cricket and Track and Field events.

Raheem decided to strike in the second round but before he could get closer to his towering opponent, Funeka unfurled a vicious right hand that caught the American flush, hurling Raheem to the canvas.

The visitor beat the count but was clearly now aware that the South African represented a far greater threat than previously thought but nonetheless Raheem was whipped to the canvas once again in the second by a blistering right hand.

The third featured Funeka stalking his quarry but Raheem was beginning to get the measure of his dangerous foe, making the local man miss with big shots until Raheem was down once again, beating the count to get through the round.

The one-sided affair continued into the fourth as Funeka simply kept nailing his foe, previously considered a cagey defensive specialist difficult to draw a bead on and for the fourth time in the contest, Raheem found himself canvassed.

While the Philadelphian native got up once again, Funeka’s next right hand bomb caught Raheem fully and the full-blooded shot planted the favored import on the floor for the final time as referee Ernie Sharif counted an end to the bout by knockout in the fourth round.

In a shocking upset, Ali Funeka improves to 30-1-2 (25) and represents a credible threat to reigning world lightweight champion Nate Campbell. Zahir Raheem suffers only his third loss, and the only one in which he has been comprehensively defeated, to drop to 29-3 (17).

On the undercard, another South African overcame a top class foreign fighter as South African Flyweight Champ Moruti Mthalane, 22-1 (15), surprisingly dominated Australia’s Hussein Hussein, 31-5 (24), a two-time former world title challenger, over twelve rounds to win an IBF title eliminator.