Sikho Nqothole produced a stunning display of boxing skills as he outpointed former world champion Charlie Edwards to win their IBF junior-bantamweight title eliminator in London on Friday night.
The judges scored it 116-113, 116-112 and 117-111 for 31-year-old “Sequence” Nqothole, whose record improved to 22 wins and three losses.
The 33-year-old Edwards, who held the WBC flyweight crown from 2018 to 2019, dropped to 21-3.
Both fighters started from behind their jabs, although Nqothole missed with most of his right-hand follow-ups in the opening round.
But the South African found his range in the second round, getting an overarm right behind Edwards’ left, quickly followed by a stiff jab.
And in the third Nqothole landed a few heavy rights that stunned his opponent, establishing a clear dominance.
The taller Nqothole simply picked up from where he left off in the fourth, moving around and picking his punches well while slipping and avoiding most of his opponent’s punches.
And so the pattern continued, with Edwards closing the gap effectively for the first time only in the eighth round, but it was too little too late.
He didn’t have the goods to counter Nqothole’s handspeed and head movement. He landed some good left hooks to the body in the 10th, but he was still soaking up punches thrown by the South African.
Mexican Willibaldo Garcia Perez is scheduled to defend the IBF junior-bantamweight title against Australian Andrew Moloney in Japan next weekend.
