Thomas Mashali

Tanzania Professional Boxing Organization TPBO middle weight champion, Thomas Mashali retained his title with a fifth round knockout over Maisha Samson in Dar es Salaam over the weekend.

The ten-round bout staged on Sunday night the winner releasing a barrage of power-packed punches to send his opponent reeling.

Mashali got the better of his opponent as the third round got underway. Maisha seemed to be in the hunt for the title before his dreams started to fade from the third round.

Mashali twice knocked down Maisha in the fourth and fifth rounds before the Mbeya region boxer surrendered the fight. Referee Sakwe Mtulya immediately stopped the bout as Mashali successfully retained the TPBO crown.

TPBO president Yassin Abdallah was pleased with the performance of the professional boxers.

He urged sponsors to turn out in boosting boxing. The TPBO chief hopes that their fans had enough enjoyment during the night as he applauded the judges for fairness of the decisions.

The title bout was preceded by four opening non-title six-round bouts. Middle weight boxers Juma Fundi and Jonas Segu won their matches on points against Shabani Madilu and Veteran boxer Venance Mponji, respectively.

Shaban Mohamed won his match against Mussa Hassan with a first round knockout while Abdallah Mohamed and Yohana Mathayo drew earlier in super lightweight clash.

“TPBO uses a lot of funds in boxing promotion in Tanzania, we hereby call upon our fans to pay the right entrance fee for any organised bout they need to watch to support our determination in developing the sport”, Abdallah said.

He also called upon political leaders to support TPBO efforts in promoting professional boxing in the country. Stakeholders have been argued to switch their attention to boxing as it brings enough glory.

“We need enough support from grassroots level so that we can get more boxers to shine at high-profile international stages”, he concluded.