Boxing

Tyson Ushona came face to face with Jan Zaveck for the first time on Thursday as they attended a pre-fight press conference at the Primus Hotel in Maribor, Slovenia.

Ushona will face a tough challenge when he takes on Zaveck for the IBF Intercontinental title at the 5 000-seat Tabor Arena in Maribor on Saturday evening, which has already been sold out.

Zavec is a former IBF world welterweight champion with a record of 31 wins and 2 defeats, while Ushona is the current WBO African welterweight champion with a record of 25 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat.

Paulus Ambunda retained his WBO African bantamweight title at the Independence Boxing Bonanza in Windhoek on Tuesday night but the star of the show was Immanuel Naidjala.

At a packed Windhoek Country Club, Naidjala retained his WBO Africa Interim Bantamweight title after a sensational performance against South Africa’s Lwazi Mzoliso.

In an unbelievable fight, Naidjala was knocked down three times but showed great courage to recover before eventually knocking Mzoliso out in the sixth round.

Paulus Ambunda will defend his WBO African bantamweight title against Cleutus Mbhele in the main bout of the Independence Day Boxing Bonanaza in Windhoek on March 20.

Mbhele has a record of 12 wins, three defeats and two draws as a professional boxer while Ambunda is still unbeaten after 17 pro fights.

Mbhele is only ranked fifth amongst South Africa’s bantamweight boxers and Ambunda will go into the fight as the firm favourite.

Namibian boxing promoter Nestor Tobias believes that Paulus “Hitman” Moses can still win the world title and would beat Ricky Burns in a rematch, but said there was no way the Scotsman would offer Moses a rematch.

Speaking at a press conference in Windhoek on Wednesday, Tobias admitted that Burns had won Saturday’s WBO lightweight fight on points, but said that Moses did a great job and would beat Burns in a rematch.

Paulus Moses’ trainer Nestor Tobias has said they will ask for a rematch against Ricky Burns on neutral ground. Although Tobias acknowledged that Burns had won the fight, he accused the Scottish camp of unsportsmanlike conduct and said that events outside the ring had given Burns an unfair advantage.

“The Hitman fought very well if you take everything into consideration. We arrived six days late just because of the delay of the Burns camp. The Scottish are also unsportsmanlike because they didn’t even sing my national anthem,” he said.

Paulus Moses will be out to create history on Saturday night when he challenges Ricky Burns of Scotland for the WBO lightweight title.

If Moses wins, he will become the first Namibian boxer to hold world titles of two different bodies after he previously won the WBA lightweight title in 2009.

Moses’ promoter Nestor Tobias told Namibia Sport on Thursday that his boxer was supremely confident and that they were not thinking about losing the fight.

Interest in Saturday’s WBO lightweight world title fight between Paulus “Hitman” Moses and the title holder Ricky Burns of Scotland has grown tremendously over the past few days.

According to reports from Scotland, tickets for the world title fight have been snapped up and all indications are that it will be a sell out.

According to a report on www.dailymail.co.uk the 6 000-capacity Braehead Arena on the outskirts of Glasgow is set for a sell-out, despite the fact that the fight will be shown live on television in Scotland.

Khomas Region won the Telecom Elite Boxing Championships for the third year in a row which took place at the Walvis Bay Community Hall on Saturday night.

Khomas won the championships with a total of 17 points, after winning two gold, four silver and three bronze medals. The Namibian Police team came second with 13 points, after winning three gold, one silver and two bronze medals, while the Namibia Defence Force team came third with nine points.

Paulus “The Hitman” Moses had a lunch in his honour at State House on Friday before he leaves for Britain on Tuesday to fight Ricky Burns of Scotland for the WBO lightweight world title on March 10.

Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba hosted the luncheon that was also attended by Namibian boxing promoter Nestor Tobias and Moses’ two sparring partners Peter Malakia and Jatoorora Tjingavete.

President Pohamba wished Moses well and called on him to bring the world title back to Namibia.

“You must go to the United Kingdom to beat up the British fellow,” he said.

Telecom Namibia on Wednesday announced a N$250 000 sponsorship for the Telecom Namibia Elite Boxing Championships and the Under 20 Youth Boxing Championships which will be held in Walvis Bay from February 28 to March 3.

Telecom Namibia’s Senior Manager Corporate Communications and Public Relations Oiva Angula said they were committed to youth development and to support initiatives at grass roots level.