Boxing

Joseph “Smokey” Hilongwa’s fight for the vacant WBA Pan – African Flyweight title against South African Doctor Ntsele that was scheduled for August 28 has been postponed.

Kinda Nangolo, Hilongwa’s trainer and promoter of the fight said they did not have enough money to host the fight.

“The main problem we encountered was the funding. We only had N$10 000 that we were given by Agribank and that was obviously not enough,” Nangolo said.

Martin Haikali retained his WBO African lightweight title with a hardfought points victory over Pies Dibeko of South Africa at the Kuisebmond Hall in Walvis Bay on Saturday night. According to Namibian boxing promoter Nestor Tobias, it was a tough encounter, while Dibeko was a tough opponent, but “Haikali was hungrier than Dibeko.”

Haikali won the fight on a unanimous points decision over 12 rounds to take his pro record to 6 wins and 4 defeats.

Dibeko was a late replacement for Sydney Maluleka who withdrew from the fight at the last minute.

The Nestor “Sunshine” Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy is looking for funds to be able to host the International Boxing Bonanza at the Kuisebmund Hall in Walvis Bay on August 7.

On the night Martin Haikali will defend his WBO African lightweight title against Sydney Maluleka from South Africa.

The owner of the academy, Nestor Tobias appealed to local business people and the private sector to come on board and sponsor the event.

Paulus Ambunda retained his WBO African bantamweight title with a points victory over 12 rounds against South Africa’s Klaas Mboyane but he had to dig deep and was pushed all the way by his tough opponent. In the end the three judges all gave Ambunda a comfortable victory (19-109, 120-109, 119-109) but the fight was much closer than the scoring suggested.

For once, Ambunda’s powerful right hand did not have much effect on his opponent as he was pushed to 12 rounds, but Ambunda displayed supreme fitness to maintain a high workrate throughout.

Paulus “The Rock” Ambunda will defend his WBO Africa bantamweight title on Saturday 24 July against South African Klaas Mboyane at the Windhoek Country Club.

This will be Ambunda’s second title defence since he won the title against Lwazi Mzolozi in a second round technical knockout in Windhoek on October 31, 2009. In his first title defence, he beat South African, Tendani Munyai on a third round TKO in April 2010, while he beat another South African, Sipho Nkadimeng on points over eight rounds in a non title defence on May 29.

Vikapita “Beast Master” Meroro will get a shot at the WBO light heavyweight title when he faces the current holder Juergen Braehmer of Germany on July 17 at the Sport and Congress Centre in Schwerin, Meckleburg-Vorpommen, Germany.

Nestor Tobias, who is Meroro’s trainer, announced the news on Wednesday.

Braehmer, who has only lost two of his 38 fights, had been scheduled to fight Alejandro Lakatos of Spain on the same date but Lakatos pulled out under unclear circumstances and the chance was given to Meroro.

Former WBA welterweight champion Paulus “The Hitman” Moses will step into the ring again on November 6 in Ongwediva.

A non-title fight has been scheduled against an opponent who is yet to be found his trainer and promoter Nestor Tobias said, adding that he will look to different countries for Moses’ opponent.

“We are looking for fighters from South America, Mexico, the United States, Britain and Australia for his opponent,” Tobias said.

“He is fighting to keep his world rating in the top 10,” Tobias added.

The Nestor “Sunshine” Tobias Boxing and fitness academy will host an amateur development tournament at the A Shipena School Hall on Thursday evening in Windhoek.

The tournament is aimed at preparing boxers who will be going to the Commonwealth Games in India later this year.

Miguel Acosta and his camp heaped praise on Paulus Moses and promoter Nestor Tobias and said they would gladly come back to Namibia to give Moses a rematch. Speaking at a press conference, barely 11 hours after Acosta dethroned Moses as the WBA world lightweight champion, Acosta praised Moses for being a ‘great warrior.’

Miguel Acosta of Venezuela became the new WBA lightweight champion of the world when he knocked out Namibia’s Paulus “The Hitman” Moses in the sixth round on Saturday night. 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 up, as the referee counted him out on the canvas.

The end came suddenly and left the Namibian fans shocked into silence while Acosta celebrated wildly as his Venezuelan helpers lifted their new world champion onto their shoulders and paraded him around the ring.