Mario Briones and Evans Mbamba slugged it out Saturday night, earning a majority draw in their World Boxing Federation junior featherweight title bout. As a result, the title remains vacant following judges scores of 114-114, 114-114, and 117-111 for Mbamba.
However, what stole the show at the Graceland Casino, was a fight for the WBF women’s featherweight title. In a frightening turn of events, Gabisile Tshabalala was knocked out by a pair of body shots that left her laid out on the canvas for nearly a half hour.
Medical personnel worked feverishly to revive the South African before they carried her out of the building on a stretcher.
The lady responsible for inflicting the damage was Aussie Shannon O’Connell who claimed the title with the knockout at 36 seconds in the seventh round.
At the time of the bouts end, things had been pretty exciting as O’Connell was constantly forcing the pace, while Tshabalala was working to counter from her back foot.
Mario Briones and Evans Mbamba slugged it out Saturday night, earning a majority draw in their World Boxing Federation junior featherweight title bout. As a result, the title remains vacant following judges scores of 114-114, 114-114, and 117-111 for Mbamba.
However, what stole the show at the Graceland Casino, was a fight for the WBF women’s featherweight title. In a frightening turn of events, Gabisile Tshabalala was knocked out by a pair of body shots that left her laid out on the canvas for nearly a half hour.
Medical personnel worked feverishly to revive the South African before they carried her out of the building on a stretcher.
The lady responsible for inflicting the damage was Aussie Shannon O’Connell who claimed the title with the knockout at 36 seconds in the seventh round.
At the time of the bouts end, things had been pretty exciting as O’Connell was constantly forcing the pace, while Tshabalala was working to counter from her back foot.
Shannon O’Connell, who is trained by former IBF lightweight champ Phillip Holiday, looked impressive in the contest, showing great form and plenty of attitude. It all culminated in the pair of body blows that crumpled her opponent.
No word yet on the condition of Tshabalala.
Mbamba probably has only himself to blame for his failure to claim the title. Despite scoring repeatedly to the head of his opponent, the portly South African wasn’t busy enough, spending a large part of the time with his back on the ropes. This allowed the Mexican fighter to throw plenty of his own shots, and although most landed harmlessly on the gloves and arms of Mbamba, he landed just enough to get two judges to score it a draw.
