Tommy Oosthuizen retained his IBO super-middleweight title when he beat Fulgenico Zuniga on points at Emperors Palace near Kempton Park on Saturday night.

The scores were 119-109 on two cards and 120-108.

Oosthuizen, making the sixth defence of his title, improved his record to 21-0-1, with 13 knockouts. The Colombian dropped to 25-6-1, with 22 short-cut wins.

Zuniga, who was outclassed throughout the bout, gave Oosthuizen a few things to think about before his next fight, concentration and defence being two of them. Spending some time on improving the effectiveness of his right hand may also be a good idea.

The champion did not look as sharp as in some of his previous bouts and at times failed to show his opponent the respect he deserved.

Zuniga relied on roundhouse swings and tried to stay close to Oosthuizen but stopped too many lefts with his head.

Going 12 rounds must have had some benefits for Oosthuizen. He probably needed the workout and should learn several lessons from watching recordings of SuperSport’s coverage of the bout.

Trainer Harold Volbrecht told Oosthuizen after the fourth round not to take “unnecessary” punches but his charge promptly collected a series of damaging blows in the fifth before inflicting some damage of his own.

The southpaw champion, now 24 years old, won the vacant IBO belt in March last year when he stopped Evert Bravo in the ninth round.

He has won only two of his past seven fights inside the distance, which may tell something about the weight he puts behind that left hand.

Fulgencio, 35, has been a professional for 11 years. He won the vacant IBO super-middleweight belt in September 2007 when he stopped Victor Organov in the ninth round.

The challenger had also gone the distance with world champions Denis Inkin, Lucien Bute and Tavoris Cloud. But the future does not hold much more for him.

LIEBENBERG UNSTOPPABLE

Ryno Liebenberg enhanced his popularity by knocking Donald Kampamba cold in the ninth round of a bout for the IBO All-Africa light-heavyweight title.

Liebenberg knocked the Zambian down in the first and third rounds and finished him off with three devastating left hooks. The bout was over after 1 minute 57 seconds of the ninth.

Kampamba needed several minutes of medical attention before he was able to leave the ring.

Liebenberg is now undefeated after 10 fights of which 7 did not go the distance. Kampamaba stands at 6-4-1.

Earlier Gideon Buthelezi made heavy weather of beating Edrin Dapudong in a fight for the vacant IBO junior bantamweight title. Two judges scored the bout 115-112 and 115-113 for the South African. The third had the Filipino ahead 114-113 after the 12 rounds.

Buthelezi, 26, improved his record to 13-3 and Dupadong dropped to 27-5.

In a junior welterweight four-rounder, Allan Bower beat Vusi Balinkulu on a majority decision -- 39-37 on two cards against 38-38 on the third.

Thabiso Mchunu knocked out Danie Venter in the fifth round to win the Super 8 cruiserweight series.

The muscular Mchunu also won the vacant African Boxing Union cruiserweight title as he turned out to be the Last Man Standing in the knockout competition.

He knocked the 33-year-old Venter down three times and the fight was over after 1 minute 52 seconds of the fifth round.

Mchunu, giving away several centimetres in height and reach, won every round on his way to victory. His performance enhanced his status as one of the most promising and exciting boxers in South Africa.

Nicknamed The Rock, the 24-year-old southpaw earned himself a place in an international knockout series to be held next year and set himself up for some big-money bouts.

Venter, who was counted out on his feet after taking two counts of eight, was unable to land any telling blows on his elusive opponent whose side-on stance made him an even more difficult target.

Mchunu’s timing was spot-on and he kept landing telling lefts from the opening round. Venter was bleeding from the nose in the third round and looked a badly beaten man at what could have been his last professional fight.

The veteran’s professional record dipped to 14-6, including 10 knockouts. Mchunu’s improved to 14-1, with 11 knockouts.

Mchunu beat Venter on points over eight rounds in June last year and has clearly made much progress since then. He has the power, speed, balance and defence that could take him a long way towards the top.

He won his first eight professional fights inside the distance before going 12 rounds against Daniel Bruwer in November 2010. By beating Venter, a former Olympian and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, he gained many new admirers.

The fight was the main attraction on Rodney Berman’s Golden Gloves Promotions tournament, one of the best shows of the year in SA boxing.