WINDHOEK – As he earlier promised, Namibia’s former world champion Paulus ‘The Hitman’ Moses, 36, delivered one of his greatest performances on his way to a straight 34th victory after dispatching Brazilian opponent Josenilson Dos Santos via a 6th round knockout, at the packed Independence Arena on Saturday night.
Hitman, who fought like a man years younger, retained his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) International Lightweight title in astounding style when he floored the Brazilian within just 2-minutes and 15-seconds of the 6th round after crushing Dos Santos with a powerful midriff body shot.
In the first three opening rounds, Hitman wasted little time as he took the fight to the Brazilian right from the onset, landing some strong head and body shots and doubling the action with an assortment of accurate jabs. The Namibian former Lightweight world champion looked too quick, sharp and strong and many a time denied the Brazilian room to close in with his strong shots.
In the 4th round, Dos Santos recovered his composure but had to contend with an elusive opponent, who continually kept him on the move yet found his target whenever he choose to close in. Notably, the only thing Dos Santos had some success with was landing punches on Hitman’s arms and some light body shots that did little harm to the Namibian, if any.
Heading into the 5th and 6th rounds, Hitman decided to up the tempo in search of an early finish, which however did materialise in the 6th round when he nailed down the Brazilian with a devastating left hand to the midriff which left Dos Santos vomiting and crawling on the floor in search of assistance from his corner.
Courageous Tyson stumbles against merciless Argentinean
On a rather sad note, Tyson Ushona suffered his first technical knockout (TKO) defeat in a blossoming career that saw him win 32 fights and only lose two on points from a total of 35 fights. Tyson on Saturday night suffered his 3rd defeat when he was viciously knocked out in the 8th round by muscular Argentinean opponent Dario Pucheta, during their International Welterweight fight.
Fighting in the main supporting bout of the ‘Final Punch To The World Title’ boxing bonanza, Tyson started off aggressively and with his speed, was able to land strong jabs and good combinations and move out of the way with ease before Pucheta could get a chance to connect his strong punches.
Despite Pucheta being a very strong puncher, Tyson handled the Argentinean very well in the first four opening rounds, as he continued to land good combinations and clean head shots that made Pucheta look hopeless at times.
But for some strange reason in the middle rounds, Tyson changed from his usual ‘hit and quick backtracking’ style of fighting to the unusual ‘toe-to-toe’ confrontational style of fighting, which did not work well against a very strong puncher like Pucheta.
In the 6th and 7th rounds, Pucheta was clearly in control of the fight although Tyson also had his moments in between. But the Argentinean, who was evidently stronger of the two fighters, started using his power efficiently in the 7th round when he caught Tyson with an avalanche of powerful shots that left the Namibian dangling on the ropes.
In the 8th round, Tyson was made to pay heavily for his recklessness in his retreatment when Pucheta caught him with the vicious left hook to the head before doubling the action with a barrage of strong head and body shots which left referee Timo Haikonda with no option but to intervene.
Upon resumption, Pucheta was again back in the thick of things when he floored a half-recovered Tyson with an assortment of heavy blows to halt the fight within almost 2-minutes of the 8th round.
In another heated, but short-lived bout, Vikapita ‘Beast Master’ Meroro made easy work of his bout against the below-par Walter Cabral when he easily brushed the Argentina aside via a 6th round Technical Knockout, during their International Cruiserweight non-title bout.