Paulus “Hitman” Moses will face his toughest test to date when he defends his WBA lightweight world title against Marco Antonio Barrera of Mexico in Los Angeles at the beginning of January.
The 35-year-old Mexican is a seven-time world champion in three different weight classes and is ranked amongst the American television network, ESPN’s 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time. He is vastly experienced with a professional record of 72 fights, 65 wins and 7 defeats, and will start as the favourite in front of his home fans.
Although Moses is much more inexperienced, he is still unbeaten after 25 fights and was full of confidence when the fight was announced. “Barrera is a good fighter, but he has not fought me yet and when we meet I will beat him,” he predicted at a press conference in November.
Moses underlined this view with a classy performance against five current and former African champions in an exhibition fight last month, when he impressed with his speed, all-round boxing skills and superb fitness.
If Moses beats Barrera, the sky will be the limit and super fights against the likes of Juan Manuel Marquez or even the world’s best pound for pound fighter Manny Pacquiao could be in the offing.
His success will also be Namibia’s as it will place the nation on the world’s boxing map, while also providing inspiration for our budding young boxers who will want to follow in his footsteps. Go Hitman, go!
On the same bill as the Hitman’s exhibition fight, Martin Haikali caused a major upset when he beat Jatoorora Tjingavete to become the new WBO African lightweight champion. He had not been given much of a chance as he had lost twice to Tjingavete before, but Haikali gave a superb, attacking performance to knock Tjingavete down in the sixth round before the referee stopped the fight.
Several other sporting codes have placed Namibia in the international limelight over the past month. Namibia hosted the African Cycling Championships to much acclaim while the MTC Namibian PGA once again drew some of the top golfers from the continent and beyond.
November also saw the international motocross event, the Namibian Inter Series taking place for the 13th successive year and the Total Tara Rally taking place for the 41st year in succession – truly remarkable achievements in these difficult economic times.
In the November issue of Namibia Sport we also report on the Namibia Sport Awards, a new generation of young cricketers coming up and the retirement of Black Africa and Brave Warriors legend Lolo Goraseb.
More than 2 000 fans turned up for his testimonial match between an African Legends team featuring former greats like Doctor Khumalo, Mark Williams, Phil Masinga, Akwa and Peter Ndlovu and the Brave Warriors Class of ‘98 team. The fans were treated to a great spectacle and it was a fitting farewell to the little maestro who became a giant of Namibian football.
Talking about soccer, the MTC Premiership is turning into a real battle with defending champions African Stars going to the top of the log for the first time after beating archrivals Orlando Pirates 2-0. But it is still early days yet as Pirates and Black Africa are breathing down their neck, while SKW sounded a warning with a record 9-3 victory against United Stars.
As usual, we bring you our regular features like the MTC Player of the Month, the Nashua Calendar, the Bank Windhoek Sport Science column and the Local Shorts and remember to log onto our website at www.namibiasport.com.na to catch the latest results, news, photos and log standings.
Helge Schutz