NamibiaSport

Boxing in Namibia continued to grow from strength to strength during 2010 with some exceptional achievements both at amateur as well as professional level.

In April, Namibia’s senior amateur team underlined its dominance in the Southern African region when it won the African Boxing Confederation Zone 6 Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa. They won the championships with a total of 27 points, followed by Botswana (26) and South Africa (13).

It was the third year in a row and the fourth time in five years that Namibia had won the overall title of Zone 6 champions. Namibia previously won the title in South Africa in 2006, Angola in 2008 and Lesotho in 2009.

In South Africa in 2010, Namibia won four gold, two silver and one bronze medal.

The gold medallists were Sakaria Lukas (56kg), Mejandjae Kasuto (69kg), Elias Nashivela (75kg) and Tobias Munihango (+ 91kg). The silver medallists were Jafet Uutoni in the 51kg category and Nataneal Kamati in the 54kg category, while Titus Iyambo won a bronze medal in the 64kg category.

In professional boxing, Namibia lost a world title when Paulus “Hitman” Moses relinquished his WBA lightweight title to Miguel Acosta of Venezuela, but Namibia gained several continental titles.

Paulus Ambunda (bantamweight), Martin Haikali (lightweight), Betuel Ushona (welterweight) and Vikapita Meroro (light heavyweight) all retained their African titles while also receiving impressive wold rankings from the World Boxing Organisation.

By October 2010, Ambunda was ranked fourth in the world by the WBO, while Uushona was ranked fifth and Meroro seventh in the world.
Namibia meanwhile continued to stage top class international tournaments, with boxing trainer and promoter Nestor Tobias leading the way.

In May he staged a highly acclaimed “Judgement Day” international tournament which was attended by Teddy Singleton, representative of American boxing impressario Don King. The main bout was the world title fight between Moses and Acosta, while boxers from 10 different nations competed on the evening’s programme.

Independence Celebrations Boxing Bonanza

On March 21 Tobias staged the Independence Celebrations Boxing Bonanza where Betuel “Tyson” Uushona beat compatriot Tommy Hango in the main bout to retain his WBO African welterweight title.

In an explosive bout both boxers gave their all and had the packed hall of fans cheering on wildly as they slugged it out over 12 rounds. In the end Uushona won convincingly with the three judges scoring the fight 119-109, 118-109 and 118-109 in his favour.

In the main supporting bout Vikapita Meroro became the new WBO African light heavyweight champion when he knocked out Douglas Otieno of Kenya in the 11th round of their 12 round fight.

Paulus Ambunda was in terrific form as he beat Sithembele Kibiti of South Africa on a first round knock out in a bantamweight fight. Ambunda put Kibiti down with a terrific right and although the South African tried to get up, he immediately sunk down again as the referee counted him out.

Triple WBO Africa Title Fight Bonanza

On April 30, Ambunda emerged as a genuine world title contender with a brilliant performance against Tendani Munayi of South Africa at the ‘Triple WBO Africa Title Fight Bonanza.’ Ambunda lived up to his nickname as he poleaxed Munayi with a great hook in the third round to retain the WBO African bantamweight title.

Jerry Nekhubvi of South Africa however caused a major upset when he knocked out Namibia’s Ali Nuumbembe in the second round to win the WBO African welterweight title.

In a fantastic bout of non-stop action, Martin Haikali retained the WBO African lightweight title with a unanimous points victory over his nemesis Jatoorora Tjingavete.

Both boxers gave their all in a great fight that had the crowd up on its feet and cheering wildly. After 12 rounds of all-out action, Haikali was adjudged the winner all three judges’ scorecards.

Moses relinquishes worl d title

On May 29, Paulus Moses relinquished the WBA lightweight world title when he was knocked out in the sixth round by Miguel Acosta of Venezuela.

The fight was the main bout of an international boxing extravaganza, entitled ‘Judgement Day’ which took place in a marquee tent on the OK parking lot.

Acosta felled Moses with a great right hook to the chin that saw him crash to the canvas. Moses managed to sit up but could not get to his feet, as the referee Gustavo Padilla of Panama counted him out on the canvas.

It was a strangely subdued performance by Moses who suffered his first defeat in 27 professional fights.

In the main supporting bout, Tyson Uushona displayed great courage and endurance to retain his WBO African welterweight title against Philip Kotey of Ghana.

Kotey had a longer reach and regularly found the target with his jab, but Uushona did most of the attacking and landed the more powerful blows, to comfortably win the fight on a unanimous points decision.

Paulus Ambunda retained his WBO African bantamweight title with a powerful display against Sipho Nkadimeng of South Africa. Ambunda dominated the fight from the start to win a unanimous points decision over eight rounds.

Boxing Bonanza

On July 24, Ambunda was the main attraction at another Boxing Bonanza at the Windhoek Country Club when he defended his title against Klaas Mboyane of South Africa.

Ambunda managed to win the fight with a unanimous points victory over 12 rounds, but he had to dig deep and was pushed all the way by his tough opponent.

Walvis Bay Bonanza

On August 7, Martin Haikali defended his WBO African lightweight title against Pies Dibeko of South Africa at the Kuisebmond Hall in Walvis Bay.
Dibeko was a tough opponent, but Haikali prevailed to win the fight on a unanimous points decision over 12 rounds.

The Hitman is back

On November 26, Paulus “Hitman” Moses announced his return to the ring with a bang when he beat Argentina’s Sergio Omar Priotti on a fifth round technical knockout.

A packed hall of more than 500 fans turned up for his return to the ring since losing the WBA lightweight title in May and the Hitman did not disappoint as he gave a polished display before the referee stopped the fight at the start of the fifth round.

Priotti took the fight to Moses from the start and pushed the pace with some swinging punches to the head and body. Moses however was in fine shape, throwing some quick jabs and moving swiftly around the ring.

By the second round, Priotti continued to throw big swinging punches, but he could not match Moses’ speed, who continued to jab effectively and land quick combinations. Priotti started clinching a lot, trying to slow down the fight.

Priotti came out firing at the start of the third round, connecting with some hard body shots, but Moses stunned him with a great right uppercut and quick combinations and by the end of the round Priotti was clinching again.

Moses upped the tempo in the fourth round and had the crowd cheering wildly and shouting for more with his quick combinations, uppercuts and hooks, which started to take effect. By the end of the round Moses was all over Priotti who did his best to hang on as the baying crowd sensed the end was near.

It didn’t take long as an exhausted Priotti came out for the fifth round but referee Jaap Nieuwenhuis gave him one look and called an end to the fight, much to the delight of the Namibian fans and Moses, who fell to the canvas in delight and then jumped up onto the corner post, holding his arms victoriously aloft to his adoring fans.

Uushona too strong for Kimori

Moses’ victory capped a great international boxing bonanza as all of Namibia’s boxers emerged victorious against foreign opponents.

In the main supporting bout Tyson Uushona successfully defended his WBO African welterweight title after beating James Kimori of Kenya on points over 12 rounds. Uushona was in control from the start, landing the harder punches, but the tough Kenyan gave as good as he got.

By the seventh round Uushona opened a cut above Kimori’s left eye. The referee inspected the cut but allowed the fight to continue and towards the end of the round Uushona knocked him to the canvas with a sharp left hook.

Kimori was however as tough as teak and came back for more, landing combinations of his own. By the 12th and final round he even put in a strong finish but Uushona was never troubled and comfortably won the fight on points.

Two judges scored the fight 120-108 and a third 120-107 to Uushona who retained his WBO welterweight title and took his pro record to 23 wins from 23 fights.

Meroro retains African light heavyweight title

Vikapita Meroro retained his WBO African light heavyweight title with a sixth round TKO over Joseph Marwa of Tanzania.

The portly Marwa hardly looked like a title contender and already started clinching after receiving Meroro’s first punch, but as the fight progressed he showed remarkable resilience.

Meroro was in control from the start, landing jabs and hooks at will, and in the third round sent Marwa to the canvas with a right hook.

Marwa however recovered and although Meroro was all over him, landing jabs and hooks at will, he could not put the Tanzanian down.

At the start of the sixth round Marwa however indicated that he had enough and the referee called an end to the fight. Meroro’s record now stands at 20 wins and 1 defeat.

Explosive Ambunda

In another explosive fight, Namibia’s Sportsman of the Year Paulus Ambunda beat Tawanda Chigwida of Zimbabwe on an 8th round TKO.

After seizing up his opponent in the first round, Ambunda started landing some heavy punches by the second, but the tough Zimbabwean fought back strongly.

By the fourth round the crowd cheered on wildly as the boxers slugged it out in the middle of the ring, calling on each other to give it their best shot.

Ambunda’s powerful shots started taking effect and by the fifth round he knocked Chigwida down for the count of eight but the Zimbabwean got up and launched a strong counterattack.

The fight took a dramatic turn at the start of the 8th round when Ambunda knocked Chigwida down with a right hook and although the Zimbabwean got up, Ambunda was all over him and sent him down a second time with a left hook.

There was no stopping Ambunda now as he laid into Chigwida and sent him down two more times before the referee called an end to the fight. It was a great display by the powerful Ambunda who is now unbeaten after 14 pro fights.

By the end of 2010, Namibia boasted four continental champions, while some exciting new talent was emerging through the ranks. Junior welterweight boxer Sackey Shikukutu, who has won 13 out of 14 fights; classy bantamweight boxer Immanuel Naidjala, who is unbeaten after six pro fights; and lightweight Julius Indongo, who is also unbeaten after six pro fights, could lead the next generation of boxers on to more international glory.