Junxion comes alive with kickboxing and boxing talent

Vibrant Sport, in conjunction with The Junxion Mall, hosted its annual year-end tournament at the weekend to showcase outstanding boxing and kickboxing talent.

Only the best of the young fighters get to make it through to the tournament proper.

This year, K-1 kickboxing was part of the tournament for the first time, widening the combat competition.

The club, established in May 2020, has been hosting this blow-by-blow action every year and prides itself as one of the best equipped clubs in Cape Town with the level of fighters coming out of such competition.

From noon this past Saturday, there was a vibrant atmosphere at the Philippi mall when MJ Meyer from the West Coast and Siyanda Mntuyedwa, from Philippi, both aged 12, stepped into the ring, and produced fireworks to open the day’s card.

The youngsters, despite their young age in competitive sport, knew exactly what they signed up for and set out to produce the goods in the squared circle; little to no mercy was given or asked.

Siyanda walked away with the win on a split point decision to the delight of the hometown crowd.

Tyler Scholtz, from Ottery, and Gugulethu Dube, from Philippi, were in the only female bout on the day but it had the crowd on their feet with Tyler taking the win after the bell.

During the event, four title fights were on the line and Phillipi’s Kgotso Gobondwana got the job done in two rounds against Likho Kimbili in their title fight.

Leon Gouws got the nod in his title fight against Thabo Tomanyana in a closely contested affair with both fighters showing great skills and tight defences.

Another Phillippi fighter, Likho Maxwell Mantana, also got the job done against Adriaan Grensville. The fight between was a titanic battle that saw Adriaan with his rawness wanting to overpower the more skillful and sleeker Likho.

Mpumelelo Dube and Simamkele Stwayi were involved in an entertaining K1 fight to close off the showcase and Mpumelelo used his kicks to perfection to ensure he walked away with the win.

The Junxion Kickboxing and Boxing Club is a social development programme managed by Vibrant Sport. The objective of The Junxion Kickboxing and Boxing Club is to contribute to the development of combat sports and the healthy lifestyle of its members.

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