WINDHOEK: South Africa were the first official gold medallists at the Junior/Senior leg of the IMMAF African Championships last night when Genevieve Tuson stopped Angola’s dangerous striker Esmeralda Mbleum in the second round of their junior women’s Atomweight (46.7kg) final.
Taking place at the Hybrid Centre in Windhoek, Namibia, the fight saw the rangy Angolan striker aim to unsettle Tuson, who looked to close the distance and grapple with her opponent in what seemed to play out as a classic striker versus grappler/wrestler match-up.
In her trademark stance, Mbleum kept that right hand close to her cheek with that lethal left loose like a swinging pendulum, ready to strike at any moment.
But Tuson was the wiser every time her opponent unleashed her punches and quickly closed the distance, using her dominant clinch-work to get the Angolan to the canvas and go to work on her body.
In the second round, it was more of the same.
Mbleum rushed in with her left hook, aiming to do damage, but her strategy failed to pay dividends as Tuson again either slipped her opponent’s punches or absorbed them and closed the distance before planting her on the IMMAF canvas and going to work in full mount with a ground and pound, before finishing the fight partially in side control via TKO.
In the junior men’s Featherweight division, JJ Karagiannidis was the second South African to book a gold medal after he beat Namibia’s Baghdad OM Muundjua via a rear naked choke in the second round.
Resembling the opening fight, Muundjua also rushed his opponent, trying to smother and overwhelm him with looping punches, but Karagiannidis remained composed, slipping, ducking and evading any KO attempts from Muundjua.
Karagiannidis eventually found his rhythm and timing, putting his wrestling and grappling to work, finding the back of Muundjua, before transitioning into a deep rear naked choke.
From that moment, it looked as if the fight would soon be over, but credit to the Namibian, who battled tooth and nail to avoid getting choked out for the rest of the round.
The fairy-tale fightback from Muundjua was short-lived, though, as Karagiannidis’ high-level grappling, cardio, patience and cage management skills were too much to deal with, and he eventually found another opening for the rear naked choke, locking it in deep and putting his opponent to sleep.
* Julian Kiewietz’ trip to Namibia for the IMMAF Africa Championships was made possible by Intergro.
* Please find below the results at the time of writing. For the rest of last night’s results, visit MzansiMMA on Instagram.
Junior / Women / Atomweight 46.7kg / Final
Genevieve Tuson (SA) beat Esmeralda Mbleum (Angola) via TKO (strikes) in the second round.
Bronze medallist: Nilza Muhanha (Angola)
Junior / Men / Featherweight 65.8kg / Final
JJ Karagiannidis (SA) beat Baghdad OM Muundjua (Namibia) via rear-naked choke in the second round.
Bronze medallist: Avelino das Neves (Angola)
Juniors / Women / Strawweight 52.2kg / Final
Luhinga Joao (Angola) beat Indira Nogueira (Angola) by TKO in the first round.
Bronze medallist: Jade Grundlingh (SA)
Juniors / Men / Flyweight 56.7kg / Final
Nkunga Vacanda (Angola) beat Mbuso Ngubane (SA) via unanimous decision.
Bronze medallist: Afonso Nascimento (Angola)
Juniors / Women / Bantamweight 61.2kg / Final
Teresa Dias (Angola) beat Nadir Vieira (Angola) via unanimous decision.
Juniors / Men / Bantamweight 61.2kg / Final
Jose Simao (Angola) beat Nqobizitha Msimango (SA) via unanimous decision.
Bronze medallist: António Uquete (Angola)
Juniors / Men / Lightweight 70.3kg / Final
TJ Esterhuizen (SA) beat Ricardo Pireza (Angola) via rear-naked choke in the first round.
Bronze medallists: Chérif Soulemane Fouofo (Cameroon), Ken Saleh (DR Congo)