South Africa's Malajika's showed boxing brilliance against Kevin Luis Munoz from Argentina when the South African triumphed in the IBO junior bantamweight at the Emperors Palace near Kempton Park in South Africa on Saturday night.
The 25-year old Malajika's (12-2; 9 KOs) mastery of the ring helped him outmaneuver and control Ricardo(16-2; 6 KOs) who failed to score any solid punches against Malajika. Majalika won the 12 round bout with a unanimous score of 118-110, 117-111 with a third card having it a shutout at 120-108.
Munoz's only successful punch Munoz was a right uppercut and hook to the body, but got more jabs and straight rights in response. With each comeback, Malajika responded with a combination that stopped his momentum.
With very little action through the first three rounds, Malajika shaded rounds two and three. Munoz shaded possibly shaded the last round but it was too late for him as Ricardo was awarded the win.
“It's all about the magic in me,” said Malajika in a post on X formerly Twitter. Ricardo is one of South Africa’s most accomplished amateurs in recent times. “When I was a young fellow I was knocked down plenty. I wanted to stay down, but I couldn't. I had to collect the two dollars for winning or go hungry,” said Malajika in media reports as a motivation to boxing.
With six knockouts on him, Munoz is not known to be a a terrific puncher, but has a busy incredible jab that he uses to good effect from time to time and is hard to hit from a distance.
Munoz's recent triumphs, include victory over Isaac Ariasa in a unanimous decision for the vacant IBF Latino Bantamweight Title and another key win over Miguel Angel Canido.
(Additional reporting provided by Joseph Hammond)
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