Two new World Boxing Federation (WBF) Champions were belted in Tanzania on Friday, January 29, as Jackson Group Sports promoted at the Next Door Arena in Dar Es Salaam. At Cruiserweight, Shaban Hamadi Jongo took the vacant WBF International title when American opponent Shawn Miller suffered a torn bicep, prompting the technical knockout at 2:38 of the very first round. vWhat was shaping up to be a huge brawl came to an abrupt end, as Jongo improved his record to 8-1-2 (7). Miller falls to 18-6-1 (7).
The co-featured bout more than made up for the disappointment of Jongo vs. Miller, with Ibrahim Class Mgender and undefeated Malawian Denis Mwale slugging it out for the vacant WBF Intercontinental Lightweight title.
After twelve rounds of non-stop action, where both men had their moments but Class was more accurate and slick, the crowd stood up and cheered in appreciation of what was an excellent fight.
Judges Ibrahim Kamwe, Abdallah Neneko and Kulwa Makarange scored the fight 116-113, 117-111 and 118-110, all in favor of Class Mgender, but while the right man won the scores didn’t reflect the competitiveness of the fight.
30-year-old Class Mgender is now 25-6 (11) since turning pro in 2010. South Africa-based Mwale, also thirty years old, experiences defeat for the first time as he drops to 8-1 (3).