Blast from the past: Joyi for SA boxers as they make their mark

Today in SA sports history: January 29

1949 —  Boxer Vic Toweel makes his professional debut, knocking out Johannes Landman in the second round at Wembley Stadium in Johannesburg, where he would win the undisputed world bantamweight championship 16 months later. Toweel was a member of the great SA Olympic boxing team that won all the country’s medals — two gold, a silver and a bronze — at the 1948 Games in London, though Toweel himself was eliminated in the first round amid a controversial decision. He remains the only South African to have won an undisputed title.

2011 — Nkosinathi Joyi retains his IBF strawweight crown, after his bout against Katsunari Takayama of Japan at Emperors Palace is halted because of a cut. The challenger had been struggling before suffering a cut from a clash of heads in the third round.