Outclassed 'Prince' surrenders title

Immanuel ‘Prince’ Naidjala lost his WBO Africa bantamweight title after he was sensationally outclassed by South Africa’s Gideon ‘Hardcore’ Buthelezi at the Windhoek’s Country Club. The bout was the conclusion of a bonanza, dubbed ‘Champions in Action part III’, which came to an end in the early hours of yesterday. Unfortunately for Namibia, the final result was not in favour of the local hero as Buthelezi took the win on a split decision. The South African, who was more aggressive during the fight and dictated matters for most of the rounds, won the fight after the judges scored it 116-111, 115-112, 113-115. Despite enjoying a longer reach and height advantage, Naidjala failed to get going and was unable to connect consistently. Instead, it was Buthelezi who was doing all the work with his quick inside movements proving hard for Naidjala to handle. The Namibian’s insistence on fighting toe-to-toe with his opponent also seemed to have been his undoing as Buthelezi continuously came off the better during such exchanges. To add insult to injury, Naidjala was counted by the referee in the ninth round, although it looked more like a slip rather than a punch that saw him go down. The deafening silence that met the final bell spoke volumes as the crowd realised that one of the brightest local prospects had just been dimmed. Buthelezi said that he was surprised at the level of ease in which he exerted his dominance. “I expected a little more and was surprised that this is how it went down,” he told the media after the bout. The South African added that since the Namibian hospitality was top class, he would not mind coming back to defend his title here. The win sees Buthelezi improving his record to 14 wins in 18 fights. Four of those fights ended in losses. Naidjala now drops to two losses, one draw and 19 wins from 22 fights. Exquisite fights Up till that point the bonanza did not disappoint the local fans with Kennedy Kamati winning the night’s first fight when he took on Edmund Dominicus in a lightweight bout over four rounds. Then it was the turn of Martin ‘Black Poison’ Haikali to avenge his defeat to Samuel ‘The Hammer’ Kapepu. Haikali won the fight in an eighth-round TKO when the referee was forced to stop the fight as Kapepu failed to respond to punches. With the win, Haikali is now the WBO Africa lightweight champion. Simon ‘Baluka’ Johannes was also impressive during his national bantamweight fight against Abner Mwafangeyo. The bout proved hugely entertaining with both boxers giving as good as they got but Johannes was just a bit too classy for his opponent. Sakaria ‘Desert Storm’ Lukas, meanwhile, kept his clean record intact when he wasted little time in sending South African Koos Matshiya packing. Lukas knocked down his opponent, who looked deceptively powerful, in the second round and followed that up by stopping the South African in the fourth round after a hard blow to the stomach. The win puts Lukas at 13 wins from 13 fights. Also keeping his unblemished record was Walter ‘The Executioner’ Kautondokwa, who ended his fight with Zimbabwe’s Edmos Takawira in the second round. That win puts the Namibian at seven wins from seven fights, with six of those bouts failing to go the distance. Revenge Japhet ‘Thin Man’ Utoni was also able to get his own back after defeating Abmerk Shidjuu for the WBO Africa flyweight title. The pair had fought in July with Shidjuu claiming victory on that occasion. This time, Utoni seemed determined not to let the same happen as he outworked his foe for a unanimous points victory after 12 rounds. The most exciting fight of the night saw Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo triumphing over the experienced South African Kaizer Mabuza. The thrilling fight had the boxers trading punches at will, in what turned out to be a true slugfest. Indongo dominated most of the early proceedings but he was floored in the fifth round after Mabuza connected with the Namibian’s chin. However, the Namibian recovered superbly to continue his dominance. With both boxers showing great accuracy in their shots, the entertaining bout enjoyed a standing ovation after the 12 pulsating rounds. In the end, Indongo won by unanimous decision after the judges scored it 117-111, 115-113, 115-113. Reflecting on the fight, Indongo said that he was honoured to have been in the ring with a legend. “Mabuza is one of the legends in the ring,” he said. “And I’m just happy I managed to beat the count when he hit me. I was not embarrassed when I went down, because it is part of the game.” Indongo now rises to 15 wins from 15 fights. The next MTC Sunshine Boxing Academy bouts will be held on December 20 at Oshikango. WINDHOEK-HECTOR MAWONGA