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Nghutenanye confident of retaining African title


FILLEMON Nghutenanye was in confident mood ahead of his flyweight WBA Pan African title defence against Ally Ngwando of Tanzania on Saturday, when the two boxers met for the first time at a press conference in Windhoek yesterday.

“I don’t really know much about him, I only know his name. But we are only here for business, I’m here to finish the job and to protect my title. He came with nothing and he will go back with nothing,” he said.

Ngwando, speaking through an interpreter, was more circumspect, saying that he believed in himself and would give a good performance for the boxing fans.

The 27-year-old Nghutenanye, who will be making the first defence of his title, is still unbeaten as a professional boxer with a record of nine wins and a draw, compared to the 23-year-old Ngwando, who has a record of 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss.

The fight is the main bout of a packed undercard that will feature 15 fights, with the action already getting underway at 14h00.

Fredrich Nghiyolwa of the MTC Salute Boxing Academy, who are promoting the bonanza, under the theme ‘Back to Action’, thanked Safari Hotel for coming on board to host the event.

“It’s important that we acknowledge Safari Hotel’s management for allowing us to host the very first boxing bonanza at their venue, normally they don’t allow us to do that so I want to thank them, it’s highly appreciated,” he said, adding that general tickets will go for N$200 each, a table of 10 will cost N$10 000 and a VIP ringside table of 10 will be N$20 000.

“The general tickets will be available at the gate and for those interested in purchasing tables, please contact our office so that we can make arrangements,” he said.

In the main supporting bout, Namibia’s WBO Africa flyweight champion Immanuel Josef will defend his title for the second time against Tisetso Modisadife of South Africa. Josef is the more experienced boxer with a record of 13 wins, 1 draw and 4 losses, while Modisadife has a record of 7 wins and 3 losses.

Abed Shikongo, who is unbeaten after seven fights, will take on Simon Shafodino (2 wins, 2 draws, 5 losses) for the vacant national super welterweight title.

Other crowd favourites like Lukas Ndafoluma and Harry Simon Junior will also be in action, with Ndafoluma (21 wins, 6 losses, 1 no contest) taking on Mussah Mkwanda of Malawi (11 wins, 12 losses, 2 draws) in a super middleweight fight, while Simon, who has won all 17 of his fights, takes on Limbami Chikapa of Malawi (10 wins, 8 losses) in a welterweight fight.

Namibian musicians Tate Butti, Leathermein and Obey Alexandra who will all be performing at the bonanza, called on Namibians to attend the fight in numbers.

“I want to thank MTC Salute Boxing Academy for the opportunity. We are excited for the boxing bonanza and we can’t wait to see the fights. We are going to perform, we are going to bring the fun, and we got the entertainment,” Alexandra said.

Tate Butti was a bit more robust in his message to the foreign boxers.

“We are a colourful nation, we have white people here who say ‘ons bliksem mense hierso’ so you must know that, bring it on!”





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