TAKALANI Ndlovu’s camp says all went to plan when the former International Boxing Organisation junior-featherweight champion outpointed Spanish boxer Kiko Martinez at Wembley Arena in Johannesburg at the weekend.

Following this IBF elimination bout victory, the Soweto-born boxer has now earned the right to fight IBF junior-featherweight champion, Celestino Caballero. True to his pre-fight comments, Ndlovu, known as “The Panther” by fight fans, did his talking inside the ring as Martinez failed to live up to his comments that he had come here to win.

Ndlovu was impressive during the fight and it was no wonder that the judges gave him a unanimous points victory.

But Ndlovu, who is trained by his father Stanley, survived a scare when Martinez decked him in the first round.

It was, however, the former South African junior- featherweight champion who dominated the fight with telling blows, which was clear to the three judges – Isaac Tshabalala, Deon Dwarte and Manuel Oliver Palomo. The judges’ scorecards read: 116-112, 116-113 and 117-111.

“The first-round knockdown didn’t worry us because we knew Takalani was going to win the fight. We stuck to our fight plan and it worked for my boy. It will be a great honour for Takalani to fight for the IBF title,” said Ndlovu senior.

It was Ndlovu’s first fight since he reunited with his father four months ago, following a spell under top Johannesburg trainer, Nick Durandt.

Meanwhile, Vusi Malinga is the new World Boxing Organisation Africa bantamweight champion — he scored a third-round knockout victory over Tanzanian boxer, Fadhili Majia at the weekend. - By MONWABISI JIMLONGO