The stage is set for an explosive Boxing Bonanza on Friday night when Immanuel Naidjala will defend his WBO Interim African bantamweight title against Emilio Norfat of Kenya in the main bout.
There will also be a Namibian title fight with Sacky Shikukutu and Tommy Hango fighting it out for the vacant national welterweight title fight while there will be a further eight fights on the under card, featuring several Zimbabwean fighters.
Norfat was not present at the weigh in on Thursday morning but Namibian promoter Nestor Tobias said that he would arrive later on Thursday.
“Norfat’s flight was delayed from Kenya, but the runway was re-opened and he took a later flight to Johannesburg. He will arrive later today and the fight will go ahead as scheduled,” he said.
At the weigh in, Naidjala just made the bantamweight limit of 53,54,kg, with a weight of 53,40kg and said he was fit and ready for action.
“I have trained hard for this fight and am in top shape. I call on my fans to come out in big numbers to see a great performance,” he said.
The Boxing Bonanza has been titled the “Great Prospect in Action” and Naidjala is certainly living up to that name. In his last fight he showed incredible resolve to survive three knockdowns before knocking out Lwazi Mzoliso of South Africa in the sixth round.
The fast-punching Naidjala is still unbeaten after 13 pro fights and is now ranked seventh in the world by the WBO.
In Norfat, however, he will face his toughest opponent to date. The Kenyan has a pro record of 16 wins and only 2 defeats and gave Paulus Ambunda a tough time, before Ambunda eventually KO’d him in the 12th round of their fight in June last year.
The main supporting bout between Sacky Shikukutu and Tommy Hango for the vacant Namibian welterweight title should be a cracker.
The hard-hitting Shikukutu was out injured for a long time and got a rude awakening in his comeback in March, when he drew against Pohamba Mandume over four rounds.
Shikukutu however is always dangerous and can stop an opponent anytime with his powerful punches, as his record attests. According to boxrec.com he has 12 wins, one draw and one loss, with nine of his victories coming via KO’s.
Tommy Hango is not known as the “Lion Heart” for nothing. He has a tremendous stamina and never gives up as Namibia’s African WBO welterweight champion Tyson Uushona discovered. They had two action-packed encounters with Ushona winning both, but the first one by a split decision.
Some other top prospects will be in action like lightweight Julius Indongo and welterweight Anthony Jaarman, who are both still undefeated, and upcoming featherweight Sakaria Lukas and lightweight Matthias Shiimbi.
The bonanza is scheduled to start at about 19h00 at the Windhoek Country Club. Tickets are N$100 per person and are available at the Namibian Boxing Control Board.
The complete fight card is as follows:
1 Junior Lightweight 4 rounds
Manfred Haimbanga (1f, 1w) v Peter Phillipus (Pro debut)
2 Featherweight 4 rounds
Mukwendje Toivo (Pro debut) v Dawid Egumbo (3f, 3w)
3 Featherweight 4 rounds
Sakaria Lukas (3f, 3w) v Mathias ‘Blue Stick’ Johannes (Pro debut)
4 Welterweight 4 rounds
Anthony Jaarman (7f, 7w) v Lucas Ndafoluma (2f, 2w)
5 Lightweight 4 rounds
Peter Malakia (19f, 9w, 9l, 1d) v Ronald Tamani (Zimbabwe) (11f, 7w, 4l)
6 Lightweight 6 rounds
Julius Indongo (10f, 10w) v Tawanda Chigwida (Zimbabwe) (14f, 9w, 4l)
7 Lightweight 4 rounds
Mathias Shiimbi (3f, 3w) v Sem Kambonde (3f, 1w, 2l)
8 Namibian Welterweight Title Fight 10 rounds
Sacky Shikukutu (14f, 12w, 1d, 1l) v Tommy Hango (14f, 11w, 3l)
9 Catchweight 4 rounds
Steven Shimbonde (1f, 1l) v Jason Mashala (1f, 1l)
10 WBO Interim Africa Bantamweight Title Fight 12 rounds
Immanuel Naidjala (13f, 13w) v Emilio Norfat (Kenya) (18f, 16w, 2l)