By Francisco Salazar

Super middleweight prospect Rowan Campbell stopped Patrick Mukala in round seven Friday night at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa.

With the victory, Campbell improves to 11-0, 7 knockouts.

Campbell, who resides in nearby Johannesburg, has gained a following in the area, having fought all his pro bouts at Emperors Palace. Campbell made his pro debut in December of 2016.

Mukala figured to give Campbell a stern test. His only loss as a pro came at the hands of former contender Ryno Liebenberg in October of 2017.

Campbell was the more-effective fighter, closing the distance between the two and landing left-right combinations. The unbeaten fighter landed counter or lead right hands to the head of Mukala.

As the bout progressed, Campbell’s punches began to take their toll on Mukala, who began to tire by the middle rounds. Campbell could not miss with left hooks and right crosses to the head as Mukala only committed himself to throw one punch at a time.

Midway through the seventh round, a combination to the head stunned Mukala, who attempted to fight back but had no energy to tie up or fight back. Moments later, Campbell stunned Mukala again with a left hook to the head, following it up with a left-right combination that prompted referee Tony Nyangiwe to step in and stop the bout at 2:42.

The 25-year-old Mukala, who is originally from Democratic Republic of the Congo and now resides in Johannesburg, drops to 11-2-1, 10 KOs.

In the co-feature, junior middleweight prospect Roarke Knapp defeated gatekeeper Alexandr Zhuravskiy of Kazakhstan by unanimous decision.

Zhuravskiy was game, but the 21-year-old Knapp, who resides in the Johannesburg suburb of Edenvale, was the busier fighter, landing the more-telling punches throughout the 10-round bout. Scores were 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94 for Knapp, who improves to 9-0-1, 7 KOs.

The 34-year-old Zhuravskiy (13-6-1, 11 KOs) is now winless in his last five bouts.

Junior bantamweight Ricardo Malajika stopped Layten Gloss (5-3, 3 KOs) at 1:53 of the sixth round to improve to 5-0, 4 KOs.

Junior lightweight Cayden Truter defeated Lopez Maluleke, who was making his pro debut, by unanimous decision. Scores were 40-36, 40-36, and 39-37 for Truter, who improves to 2-0, 1 KO.

In a clash of welterweights making their pro debuts, Darrin Rossouw stopped Ramsy Hlungwane at 2:59 of the fourth and final round.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing