Rowan “Braveheart” Campbell captured the vacant South African super middleweight title via a razor-thin unanimous points decision – according to two judges – defeating Renson “Bagdad” Hobyani at Emperors Palace on Friday night.
The fight looked easy from a fan’s perspective and Campbell was cruising on points. Despite being the aggressor from the start‚ Campbell even dropped Hobyani for a count in round 11.
The scoring in that round was 10-8. But two of the three judges voted Campbell the winner with only a point and two each. Their colleague scored it 116-111 – a five points margin – for Campbell.
The 24-year-old newly-crowned champion – whose corner was manned by Peter Smith – also retained his unblemished slate of eight fights. He made his debut last year December‚ and the fight against Hobyani was Campbell’s first 12 rounder.
The 29-year-old Hobyani‚ who has been around since 2013‚ suffered his third loss in 11 fights. The former Limpopo champion made his debut under trainer Steve Castle. The fight looked easy from a fan’s perspective and Campbell was cruising on points.
In what looked like a schoolboys’ punch-up‚ Keaton Gomes made his positive debut without even breaking a sweat as he knocked Moses Bila down three times in the first round of their cruiserweight bout‚ which was scheduled for four rounds.
Experienced referee Tony Nyangiwe correctly intervened before Bila’s corner-men threw in the towel‚ intervening for their vanquished charge who suffered his fifth defeat.
Promoters Jeff Ellis and Rodney Berman staged the tournament jointly to pay tribute to veteran 82-year boxing historian and writer Ron Jackson.
Other results:
Junior welterweight 4 rounds: Jabulani Makhanse beat Siya Mabena on points
Junior featherweight 6 rounds: Ayabonga Sonjica beat Deon Mbumbana K01
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