NAMIBIA’s two African flyweight champions Fillemon Nghutenanye and Immanuel Josef retained their titles in the main fights of the Back to Action boxing bonanza at the Safari Hotel on Saturday night.
Nghutenanye retained his WBA Pan African flyweight title with a seventh round knockout of Tanzania’s Ally Ngwando, while Josef retained the WBO Africa flyweight title after beating South Africa’s Tisetso Modisadife on a technical decision after the fight had to be stopped due to a clash of heads in the sixth round.
In the main fight, Nghutenanye pushed the tempo from the start, leading with regular combinations to the head and body, while the Tanzanian didn’t give much in return, prompting his corner to shout, “You need to fight Ally!”
By the third round Ngwando started landing some shots on the counterattack, but Nghutenanye was still the aggressor, taking the fight to the Tanzanian.
The fight continued in the same vein, with Nghutenanye pushing the tempo and Ngwando retaliating on the counterattack, but the Namibian’s powerful shots started taking effect and the fight ended abruptly in the seventh round when Ngwando went down from an innocuous looking body shot and remained down for the count of ten.
It was a workmanlike performance by Nghutenanye in his first WBA African title defence, while he remains unbeaten, with a pro record of 10 wins and one draw.
Josef, meanwhile, received tougher opposition from Modisadife in a close encounter between two evenly matched boxers.
Both boxers came out with snappy jabs and combinations, but by the third round Josef had the crowd cheering for more as he landed some big combinations.
Josef continued to set the pace and by the fifth round both boxers landed some big shots as they slugged it out in the centre of the ring.
Modisadife came back with a strong attack in the sixth round, but the fight was suddenly stopped after a clash of heads left blood streaming down Josef’s face.
The fight was stopped as Josef’s head was bandaged up, and with Josef leading 58-56 on all three judges’ scorecards at that stage, he was awarded the fight on a technical decision.
It was Josef’s second defence of the continental title, while he now has a pro record of 14 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw.
Abed Shikongo won the vacant national super welterweight title with a unanimous points decision over Simon Shafodino over 10 rounds.
Shikongo dominated from the start, knocking Shafodino down in the first round and when he just managed to beat the count, getting up on rubbery legs, it seemed as if the fight would not last long.
Shafodino, however, showed great courage to hang in and although Shikongo was the aggressor, landing some big combinations in the middle rounds, Shafodino finished strongly, landing some strong combinations of his own in the final rounds.
By then, though, Shikongo had already built up a big lead which was underlined by the scorecard as two of the judges scoring it 99-90 and one, 98-91 in Shikongo’s favour.
It was Shikongo’s eighth successive victory as a pro, while Shafodino now has a record of 2 wins, 2 draws and 6 losses.
Lukas Ndafoluma had little trouble before beating Mussah Mkwanda of Malawi on a fifth round technical knockout in a super middleweight fight.
He took charge from the start, using his longer reach to good effect and put Mkwanda down for the count of eight by the second round.
From then on it was one way traffic as Ndafoluma wore the Malawian down with strong combinations, before the referee stopped the fight after 1:10 of the fifth round.
Harry Simon Junior had an even easier task against another Malawian, Limbami Chikapa, who was clearly outclassed in their welterweight fight.
Simon took his time, building up a lead with a strong jab and combinations, and by the end of the second round Chikapa decided he had had enough and didnt get up for the third round.
The results of other fights were as follows:
In a super featherweight fight Lazarus Shaningwa beat Israel Kammwamba of Malawi on a unanimous points decision over six rounds.
In a super bantamweight fight, Tomas Shifiona beat John Shitilitha on a majority decision over six rounds.
In a featherweight fight over four rounds Immanuel Andeleki beat Teofelus Nashilongo on points.
In a bantamweight fight Paulus Shonena beat Gabriel Jamba on points over six rounds.
In a super middleweight fight Andreas Shikongo beat Fillipus Amwaama on a fourth round TKO.
In a super lightweight fight Mervin Nguno beat Eslon Kalus on points over four rounds.
In a flyweight fight Nelson Malangu beat Matian Hamunyela on points over four rounds.
In a super flyweight fight Joly Nangolo and Mathews Nghikevali fought to a draw over four rounds.
In a super lightweight fight Paulus Morgan beat Immanuel Nghilongwa on points over four rounds.
In a welterweight fight Samuel Junius beat Petrus Mathews on points over four rounds.