RAHEEM KO?D BY FUNEKA, HUSSEIN LOST TO MITHALANE
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 06 Jul 2008
Zahir ?The Z Man? Raheem whose antics on his arrival in East London, South Africa upset well-known promoter Branco Milenkovic has suffered a humiliating fourth round knockout at the hands of Ali Funeka in an IBF super featherweight eliminator at the Jan Smuts Stadium in East London in a blockbuster double-header.
In the other big fight which was an IBF flyweight eliminator, Australia?s Hussein Hussein lost a lopsided twelve round decision as he was outclassed by another South African Moruti ?Baby Face? Mithalane with two judges scoring it 118-110 and the third judge 119-109.
With his crushing defeat in the title eliminator Raheem dropped to 29-3 with 17 knockouts while the hard-hitting Funeka improved to 30-1-2 with 25 knockouts and earned the right to face IBF champion Nate Campbell for the title.
Super Sport reported that Raheem who had been knocked down four times ?took another big right to the head right at the bell and the referee did not even bother to count.?
Funeka was in devastating form from the first round and used his longer reach to advantage. Raheem was caught by what was described as ?a lightning right to the head? and went down for the first time in round two and then went down again before the end of the round. Decked early in the third Raheem protested claiming he lost his footing. However, another cracking right in the fourth saw him hit the canvas for the fourth rime before the final blow knocked him out cold.
In a tune-up fight last September 23, Funeka won by a fourth round TKO over the smaller JR Sollano of the Rex ?Wakee? Salud stable in a WBC International lightweight title defense by Funeka who won the crown on May 27, 2006 with a second round knockout over another Salud fighter, Dexter Delada. Funeka has stopped 14 of his last 16 opponents.
Shortly after he arrived in South Africa, the American who boasts of a big win over Mexican legend Erik ?El Terrible? Morales gave Milenkovic problems by refusing to be weighed at his pre-fight medical examination. He also shunned the hotel accommodation provided by Milenkovic and instead checked in at a hotel of his choice with his entourage which included his wife Analee, his mother and brother and trainer and former WBA welterweight champion and Olympic gold medalist Mark Breland.
Super Sport reported that ?there was a clear class difference? in the flyweight eliminator with Hussein ?outclassed in every respect by the briskly punching South African? Mithalane. The Australian almost went down in the eleventh round but stayed on his feet until the final bell.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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