Magwaca wins vacant WBF bantamweight belt

By Ron Jackson

South Africa’s Mzuvukile Magwaca captured the vacant World Boxing Federation bantamweight belt when he beat Jason Canoy from the Philippines on a 12 round split decision at Khayelitsha near Cape Town on Friday night. Judges Clifford Mbelu and Eddie Marshall scored the fight 117-112 and 117-110 in favour of Magwaca whilst judge Darryl Ribbink scored it 115-114 for Canoy. Canoy 26-7-2; 19 attacked from the opening bell and was the aggressor through most of the fight scoring to the body and head with combinations. However, Magwaca, 18-0-2; 10 fought off the back foot as he used his longer reach and educated left jab to score points. Magwaca went down on one occasion but this was ruled as a slip by the referee. Magwaca and Canoy are not listed in latest rankings on the WBF website.

Meanwhile, at the Wild Coast Sun in Port Edward on Friday night, Ruann Visser beat Ashraf Suleiman (Tanzania) on a third round technical knockout to win the vacant ABU Southern Africa heavyweight title.