WINDHOEK – Despite having been admitted to hospital for about two weeks, Namibia’s former two-time world champion, Harry ‘The Terminator’ Simon yesterday insisted he still has enough ammunition in his arsenal to rumble for another two years, amidst reports of his ailing physical condition.
In an interview with New Era Sports yesterday, Simon admitted he was hospitalised for about two weeks but however refused to disclose the actual reasons for his admission to hospital, saying it’s a personal matter.
Simon’s admission to hospital follows hot on the heels of fierce criticism by some people in boxing circles who claim that Namibia’s first ever world champion, Simon, is in no physical state to even throw a single punch.
But despite the unfavourable judgments, a sharp-tongued Simon remained unfazed and insisted he is in a good shape to box and can be expected to take on more fights once the healing process is completed within a few weeks’ time. Simon is targeting a return to the ring against an unconfirmed opponent in November.
Simon, who currently holds the International Boxing Federation (IBF) International Light Heavyweight title, also used the platform to rubbish reports that he has been stripped of his IBF title, saying he is still the rightful holder of the title, although he failed to defend the title within the required timeframe.
“Due to my medical condition I could not defend my title within the required and lawful time period but we have communicated with the IBF regarding my medical condition and they have been understanding so far. In fact, they cannot strip me of my title while the doctors’ reports prove that I couldn’t fight at the time they wanted me to fight. Lawfully, all they can do in this regard is just give me more time to heal and then I will defend my title.
“It was the same situation with the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) when I was involved in the first car accident – they too wanted to strip me of my titles but they couldn’t because the doctors’ reports suggested I needed time to recover. So all they did was give me eight months to heal, which I failed to meet and so they gave me another six months. Luckily I recovered in time but failed to meet the required weight as I was a middleweight division boxer then, so all I could do was just sign off my title and make it vacant as I was too overweight for the division,” said Simon.