Ludumo Lamati remained unbeaten Saturday night, defeating Jose Estrada Garcia by majority decision at Emperors Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa.

One judge scored the bout 114-114, while the other two judges scored the bout 116-112 and 115-113 for Lamati, who improves to 18-0-1, 10 knockouts and won a vacant IBO super bantamweight world title.

Lamati, who resides in nearby Johannesburg, fought over three months ago, defeating Said Mohammed Hassan by unanimous decision. His most notable bout as a pro took place in July 2019, stopping Richie Mepranum of the Philippines after round 10.

The 29-year-old Lamati built an early lead, outboxing Estrada throughout the first half of the fight. Undaunted, Estrada would walk Lamati down, connecting with vicious punches to the head and body. Estrada battered Lamati during the final round and almost looked like he was going to end matters, but the bell sounded to save Lamati.

Estrada, who resides in Monclova, Mexico, drops to 12-2-1, 6 KOs.

In the co-feature, fringe welterweight contender Thulani Mbenge (18-1, 14 KOs) of Mdantsane, South Africa stopped previously-unbeaten Jabulani Makhense in round 3.

Mbenge was the more-effective fighter, connecting with a series of left hooks to the head. In round 3, Mbenge hurt Makhense with a straight right to the head. Mbenge followed up, landing a series of right hands before referee Simon Makadi stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:43.

The 29-year-old Mbenge has won his last three bouts since losing a close unanimous decision to Germany’s Sebastian Formella. Makhense, who resides in the South Africa capital of Pretoria, suffers his first loss as a pro and drops to 11-1, 5 KOs.

Hard-hitting junior middleweight Brandon Thysse, who resides in the Johannesburg suburb of Gemiston, knocked out Tomi Silvennoinen (9-4, 5 KOs) of Finland at 1:00 of round 10.

Thysse, who improves to 14-2-1, 12 KOs, dropped Silvennoinen in round 9. That same round, Silvennoinen was deducted a point from referee Phumeza Zinakile for holding. Thysse has now won his last four bouts since losing by split-decision to Boyd Allen in May 2019. He would get a sense of revenge in his previous fight on October 10, knocking Boyd out at the end of round 3. 

Another hard-hitting junior middleweight saw action and won by knockout Saturday night.

Roarke Knapp improved to 12-1-1, 10 KOs by knocking out previously-unbeaten Benoit Makangila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the end of round 2. 

Knapp, who resides in the Johannesburg suburb of Edenvale, mostly-dominated the action against Makangila (12-1-2, 6 KOs), hurting Makangila badly at the end of round 2. Makangila refused to answer the bell for round 3, saving himself from more punishment.

In a rematch of a fight that took place on December 19, cruiserweight Johnny Muller (23-9-2, 14 KOs) defeated Akani Phuzi of Malamulele, South Africa by split-decision. One judge scored the bout 96-94 for Phuzi, while the other two judges scored the bout 97-93 for Muller, who resides Roodepoort, South Africa. Phuzi drops to 11-2, 5 KOs. 

In a clash of unbeaten junior middleweights, Shervontaigh Koopman defeated Jacques Tshikubu Muvud (6-1, 3 KOs) by unanimous decision. Koopman (7-0, 5 KOs) dropped Tshikubu Muvud in round 3 en route to winning by scores of 58-56, 57-56, and 57-55. 

South Africa heavyweight Wilhelm Nebe knocked out Jean Pierre Steenkamp, who was making his pro debut, at 1:08 of the opening round to improve to 5-0, 4 KOs. 

Longtime promoter Rodney Berman promoted the card.

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.