Windhoek
Namibia’s veteran boxer Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses successfully defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) Africa lightweight belt when he floored his loud-mouth challenger Cosmos Cheka at the Windhoek Country Club on Saturday evening.
The Namibian was under pressure to perform at his level best after his Tanzanian opponent openly bragged that he would make mincemeat of the champion.
Somehow, initially the flamboyant East African boxer almost put his money where his mouth could be located, peppering his host as he showed some good hands by dispatching well-executed jabs and uppercuts – much to the dismay of the home crowd.
Cheka then sent the Namibian to the canvas in the second round but Moses’s fitness came in handy as he recovered sufficiently to carry on. As the fight continued The Hitman started to grow in confidence and took the upper hand in the subsequent rounds.
It was all over in the fifth round when the streetwise Namibian unleashed a vicious right hook that planted his opponent on the ropes. Cheka never managed to recover from the sucker punch and the referee had seen enough to signal the end of the contest.
In other action, Sakaria ‘Desert Storm’ Lukas defeated Mohamed Kamburuta via a fifth round stoppage after taking centre stage from the word go.
Lukas had his out-of-sorts opponent in all sorts of trouble, sending him twice to slumber land in the opening round of their WBO Africa interim featherweight title fight before delivering the sucker punch in the 5th round.
In a night that belonged to Namibians, Japhet ‘The Lion’ Utoni returned the compliment to his compatriot by beating his Tanzanian opponent Twalib Tuwa in similar fashion with a fifth round stoppage, to retain his WBO international junior flyweight crown.
Walter ‘Executioner’ Kautondokwa had the better of the exchanges in his WBO Africa middleweight title bout against Chimwemwe Chiotcha, beating the Malawian on points.
Welterweight boxer Jatoorora ‘Sting’ Tjingaveta returned to the boxing ring after a long layoff and showed no signs of fatigue when he easily waltzed past Limbabni Masamba on points.
In an all-Namibian affair, Immanuel ‘Angel’ Andelekei defeated Onesmus Nekundi on points in their non-title junior lightweight fight over four rounds, while Japhet ‘Masterio’ Amukwa saw off Jacob Jacob on points in their flyweight four-rounder.
Lazarus Namalambo proved too strong for Manfred Haimbanga, beating his opponent on points after four rounds of blood, sweat and tears in their junior lightweight four-rounder.
Paulus Paulus beat Zimbabwean opponent Nicola Mutonhora on points in their middleweight four-rounder.
Mendu Kaangundue defeated Andreas Nghinanaye on points in another welterweight fight, while the junior bantamweight bout between Andreas Amuholo and Immanuel ‘No Fear’ Shapaka ended in a stalemate.