Ricardo Malajika (right) jabs Yanga Sigqibo during their junior bantamweight fight on August 23 in South Africa. (Photo by James Gradidge)
Ricardo Malajika delivered another virtuoso performance at Emperor’s Palace in Gauteng, South Africa on Friday evening, beating local rival Yanga Sigqibo in the 11-man squad.st round of a junior bantamweight bout.
Sigqibo was seen as a serious threat to Malajika, having gone the 10-round distance in 2022 with current WBO champion Kosei Tanaka. He also had a string of wins over various international opponents to his credit, but that didn’t help him against the streaky Malajika.
The first round began with both fighters throwing plenty of leather, but neither landed as both tried to establish themselves at range.
In the second, it was Malajika who took half a step forward and jabbed at Sigqibo’s body. He then had Sigqibo covered up after landing a right hook around his guard. Malajika continued his attack by fleeing to the body.
Sigqibo landed a right on the chin at the start of the third, but then proceeded to back up and try to walk Malajika on a shot. The strategy didn’t work. Malajika continued to stalk 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 a few 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 dug to the body.
Malajika had a great round five. He started to time the right side of Sigqibo better, dove under it and stepped around his opponent. He let fly with his own combos backed up by Sigqibo.
Malajika doubled and tripled his streak in the sixth. A combination ended by a right hook behind the ear sent Sigqibo to the canvas for the first time. He stood up and Malajika went after him, digging hooks into the bottom and then bringing them up to the head. Sigqibo somehow managed to survive the round.
Sigqibo made one last attempt to turn the fight around in the seventh and started aggressively, but Malajika stopped him in his tracks with a power punch. Moments later, Sigqibo’s head was snapped back with a straight right, followed by a one-two.
From then on, Malajika seemed to be on cruise control, ducking under everything Sigqibo threw and getting his own shots off, driving Sigqibo into a defensive shell.
A big left hook by Malajika in the 10th and a follow-up flurry seconds later dropped Sigqibo to one knee, where he was clipped to the top of the head by two more glancing blows. It was somehow considered a slip by the umpire. This did nothing to deter Malajika, who continued to go towards the body. One of those combinations interrupted by a right hook to the head finally sent Sigqibo down for the second official knockout of the fight. Again he stood up and saw the round.
Malajika finished proceedings in style in the 11th round. He snapped the jab, Sigqibo dived, and as he came up, Malajika caught him with a beautiful straight. Sigqibo collapsed on the canvas, where he was counted out at the 1:09 mark.
Ricardo Malajika has lived up to his nickname “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 co-main event, heavyweight Chris Thompson won an ugly eight-round unanimous decision over Romanian bully Alexandru Jur. The fight, which took place at the 224-pound bridge weight limit (a division not recognized by The Ring), never caught fire and was marred by a lot of holding and grinding 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. However, as soon as he got closer, his opponent grabbed him and hung on until the referee separated them.
Thompson tried to bring down Jur’s guard with his straight left to the body in the third. He managed to land a double right hook to the head, backed Jur with his jab to a corner and then opened up with a combination that was soon smothered.
After Thompson landed a good straight left in the fourth, and after more clinch followed, Jur finally showed some aggression. He landed a right uppercut to the body, followed by a hook to the head that caused Thompson to return to his jab.
Thompson kept landing his jab and the odd straight left, working with whatever hand he could free in the clinches over the next two rounds. He landed 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 held 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 shutouts, a win is a win. Alexandru Jur dropped to 21-6 and was just there to survive.
Undercard results:
Snamiso Ntuli W UD 8 Donjuan van Heerde (light heavyweight)
Keanu Koopman W UD 6 Lancelot Moyo (Welterweight)
Juan Alberts KO 1 Pendulo Ranapo (Heavyweight)
Dean Promnick KO 2 Thando Mali (Middleweight)
The card was presented by Rodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions.
