Ricardo Malajika put on yet another virtuoso performance at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng, South Africa, on Friday night, knocking out local rival Yanga Sigqibo in the 11th round of a junior bantamweight bout.
Sigqibo was considered a serious threat to Malajika, having gone the 10-round distance in 2022 with current WBO champion Kosei Tanaka. He also had a slew of wins over various international opponents under his belt, but that did not help him against the streaking Malajika.
The first round began with both fighters throwing lots of leather but neither landing as both tried to establish themselves at a distance.
In the second, it was Malajika who took a half step forward, jabbing to Sigqibo’s body. He then had Sigqibo covering up after landing a right hook around his guard. Malajika continued his attack by flurrying to the body.
Sigqibo landed a straight right to the chin at the start of the third but then proceeded to back off, trying to walk Malajika onto a shot. The strategy did not work. Malajika kept stalking behind a tight defense and moments later landed a left hook, followed by more body work.
Sigqibo had very sporadic success with his straight right. He landed one at the start of the fourth and he would land some more over the course of the fight, but Malajika simply walked through them. Malajika found a target for his own right, mostly thrown as a hook, and kept digging to the body.
Malajika had a great round five. He started to time the right of Sigqibo better, ducking underneath it and stepping around his opponent. He let fly with his own combinations that had Sigqibo backing up.
Malajika doubled and tripled his jab in the sixth. A combination ended by a right hook behind the ear sent Sigqibo to the canvas for the first time. He got up and Malajika went after him, digging in hooks downstairs and then bringing them up to the head. Sigqibo somehow managed to survive the round.
Sigqibo made a last-ditch attempt to turn the fight around in the seventh, starting aggressively, but Malajika stopped him in his tracks with a power jab. Moments later, Sigqibo’s head was snapped back by a straight right followed by a one-two.
From then on, Malajika appeared to be in cruise control, ducking underneath everything Sigqibo threw and landing his own shots, driving Sigqibo into a defensive shell.
A big left hook by Malajika in the 10th and a follow-up flurry seconds later had Sigqibo going down on a knee, where he was clipped by two more glancing blows to the top of the head. It was somehow ruled a slip by the referee. That did nothing to deter Malajika, who kept going to the body. One of those combinations punctuated by a right hook to the head finally sent Sigqibo down for the second official knockdown of the fight. Once again, he got up and saw out the round.
Malajika finished proceedings in style in the 11th round. He feinted the jab, Sigqibo ducked down, and as he came up Malajika caught him flush with a beautifully timed straight right. Sigqibo collapsed to the canvas, where he was counted out at the 1:09 mark.
Ricardo Malajika lived up to his nickname of “Magic Man” and has now won six in a row, bringing his record to 14-2 with 10 knockouts. Yanga Sigqibo, who was stopped for the first time in his career, drops to 18-3-1.
In the main supporting bout, heavyweight Chris Thompson won an ugly unanimous eight-round decision over Romanian spoiler Alexandru Jur. The fight, which took place at the bridgerweight limit of 224 pounds (a division not recognized by The Ring), never caught fire and was marred by lots of holding and mauling on the inside.
Chris Thompson (left) finds the target on Alexandru Jur’s ribs. (Photo by James Gradidge)
Thompson, to his credit, did what he could, using his jab and popping Jur with his southpaw straight left. As soon as he got closer, though, his opponent grabbed him and hung on until the referee separated them.
Thompson tried to bring Jur’s guard down with his straight left to the body in the third. He managed to land a double right hook to the head, backed Jur to a corner with his jab and then opened up with a combination that was soon smothered.
After Thompson landed a good straight left in the fourth, and after more clinching ensued, Jur finally showed some aggression. He landed a right uppercut to the body followed by a hook to the head that made Thompson return to his jab.
Thompson kept landing his jab and the odd straight left, working with whatever hand he could get free in the clinches over the next two rounds. He managed a good right uppercut in the seventh and a straight left-right uppercut later in the round.
He started the eighth aggressively, but to no avail as Jur grabbed him and hung on for dear life until the final bell.
Scores were 79-73, 79-72 and 80-71. For Chris Thompson, who is now 14-6-1 with seven stoppages, a win is a win. Alexandru Jur dropped to 21-6 and was only there to survive.
Undercard results:
Snamiso Ntuli W UD 8 Donjuan van Heerden (light heavyweight)
Keanu Koopman W UD 6 Lancelot Moyo (welterweight)
Juan Alberts KO 1 Mpendulo Ranapo (heavyweight)
Dean Promnick KO 2 Thando Mali (middleweight)
The card was presented by Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions.
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