By Chris Totobela
Makhanda’s son of the soil and the only champion, Bongani “King Killer” Fule, pulled out all the stops when he defeated Gauteng-based Jeff “911” Magagane in their featherweight eight-round bout recently.
Ranked second and fourth respectively by Boxing South Africa (BSA), Fule and Magagane went through all the rounds in their non-title bout. It was a bruising fight as both boxers went toe-to-toe. Magagane won the first four rounds, catching Fule with a straight left on numerous occasions.
Fule had to change his game plan and fight from the inside, landing body blows. The local boy stuck to his game plan until the last round and it was up to the judges to decide. The judges scored the fight 97-94 to Fule, 96-95 to Magagane and 97-94 to Fule, a split decision victory for the Makhanda fighter.
“It was a very tough fight as I fought an awkward opponent. His ring craft is superb and he used his reach advantage very well. I kept on working hard and the speed of the fight caught up with him and I capitalised on that,” Fule said after the bout.
He went onto thank his supporters, especially Makhandans “who threw every punch with me and I felt like they were at ringside”.
Fule also thanked those who travelled to East London to support him.
He will now spend a few days recovering and will meet with his management to discuss his next move.
