Naidjala calm ahead of title fight

Namibian boxer, Immanuel ‘Prince’ Naidjala is calm ahead of his world title fight against Japan’s Tomoki Kameda on December 3. Naidjala, who is also the WBO African and IBF International bantamweight champion, is set to face the Japanese fighter for the latter’s WBO world bantamweight title and yesterday informed Namibian Sun that he feels no pressure at all. “I feel like it is like any other fight,” he said. “I don’t feel pressure at all and I’m not afraid and have not been thinking about what comes after this. So I have prepared as I do for every other fight.” But while the Namibian has fought at a lot of different levels, nothing compares to the task he faces when he climbs into the ring at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka. Of this much, Naidjala appears to be well aware. “Yes it is my biggest fight to date but I’m not stressed about that as I have been enjoying the training since the guys [in the gym] have been giving me the usual tough workout,” said the boxer, who has been in camp for the last three weeks. During that time, the boxer also received a three-day visit from a Japanese television crew that filmed various aspects of his preparation for the bout. While some have argued that the Japanese were on a spying mission, Naidjala said that really doesn’t bother him. “The day of the fight when that first bell rings will be very different. Whatever they are hoping for is not going to happen,” he stated before adding that their visit simply reminded him of the magnitude of the fight. Having them here showed me how important and big this fight is,” he said. And it doesn’t get bigger than fighting for a world title belt in a foreign country at a venue that is sure to be packed to capacity by passionate Japanese fans. This, too, does not faze the Namibian. “Fighting away from home is not something new to me as I have fought away many times as an amateur. So I know what it takes to fight abroad, which is a positive mind,” he said. Naidjala adds that knowing that he has the support of all Namibians has motivated him to perform admirably in Japan. “I’m very grateful for the support I’ve been getting. It shows that everybody believes in me and that has motivated me so much,” he stated. Kameda has an unblemished record of 28 wins from 28 fights while Naidjala has a record of 17 fights, 16 wins and a solitary draw. By that record alone, the Namibian will enter the December 3 fight as an underdog but Naidjala reinstates that he is not the one that will be afraid on that night. “It will be a very difficult fight for him. When I land in Japan, they will probably not give much attention to me but after the first bell rings, they will realise they made the biggest mistake and I’ll punish them,” he declared. WINDHOEK-HECTOR MAWONGA