Namibian boxing fans can expect a feast of action on July 28 when Paulus Ambunda, Paulus Moses and Tyson Ushona will top the bill against world class opponents from Brazil and South Africa.
Ambunda will fight the Brazilian William Prado in a WBO bantamweight world title eliminator, while Moses and Ushona will fight South Africa’s former world champions Cassius Baloyi and Isaac Hlatshwayo respectively.
Addressing a press conference in Windhoek on Wednesday, Namibian boxing promoter Nestor Tobias said the event which will be held at the Ramatex Factory would be the biggest boxing bonanza yet staged in Namibia.
“This will be the biggest ever fight night in Namibia. The cream of Namibia’s boxers will be in action against some world rated opponents,” he said.
According to Tobias, Ambunda will fight the Latino bantamweight champion Prado in a world title eliminator for both the WBO and WBA titles.
“I have already spoken to Stan Christodoulou of the WBA and Andrew Smale of the WBO and they have both given the go-ahead for the fight. The winner will be in the pole position to challenge for the WBO or WBA bantamweight world titles,” he said.
The 28 year old Prado has an impressive record of 21 fights, 19 wins (13 by KO), 1 draw and 1 loss. His only defeat came in April 2008 and since then he has won 14 fights and drawn one.
The 31-year-old Ambunda is still unbeaten after 18 pro fights, with 10 KO’s.
Paulus Moses, who lost his last fight against Ricky Burns in March, will fight Cassius Baloyi, a former three-time world champion in an international lightweight fight.
“I spoke to Don King and he said the Hitman must win another fight before we can aim for a world title again. Cassius Baloyi is a world class fighter, and he will provide tough test for the Hitman,” he said.
The 37-year-old Baloyi is a former IBO Super Featherweight, WBU Featherweight and WBU Super Bantamweight champion. He has a professional record of 44 fights, 37 wins, 6 losses and 1 draw.
He however lost his last two fights, with his last fight coming more than a year ago in January 2011.
The 34-year-old Moses has a pro record of 30 fights, 28 wins and 2 losses.
Tyson Ushona will also face a three-time former world champion in Isaac Hlatshwayo in an international welterweight fight.
The 34-year-old Hlatshwayo is a former IBO lightweight, IBO welterweight and IBF welterweight champion, with a pro record of 36 fights, 30 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw.
He has also lost his last two fights, with the last one coming in March this year when he was KO’s in the second round by Bongo Lipembe.
The 30-year-old Ushona has a pro record of 28 fights, 25 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw.
In his last fight he suffered a unanimous points defeat against Slovenia’s Jan Zaveck for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title. According to reports Ushona pushed Zaveck all the way and was unlucky to lose the fight.
In December 2009, Zaveck made light work of Hlatshwayo, when he won on a third round technical knockout.
Tobias said there would be several other fights on the undercard. These included a possible rematch between Abmerk Shidjuu and Smoky Joe Hilongwa for the WBO Africa flyweight title, although this still had to be confirmed.
Tobias said it would be a spectacular event not to be missed and that they also planned to have musicians performing in between the fights.
The ticket prices will be N$500 for VIP tickets, N$200 for middle row seats and N$50 for grand stand seats.