WINDHOEK – Namibia’s triple world champion Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo on Saturday reminded all and sundry that his pounding machine is still well-oiled and operating at full speed when he dropped America’s Carltavius Jones Johnson before stopping him in the second round of their 10-round super lightweight non-title fight at the Bobby Miller Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
For the 36-year old Namibian former World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation (IBF) and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) world champion, the all-important victory marked the beginning of his long-awaited comeback trail.
Indongo, who boast 23 wins and only two losses from 25 professional fights, started Saturday’s fight slow and struggled a bit finding his rhythm having been out of action for almost 18 months. The rookie Johnson took advantage and landed several big shots on the Namibian veteran in the first.
Indongo rebounded in the second and started showing flashes of his usual self, staggering Johnson with long accurate jabs and further pushing the American back with his slick feet movement and a flurry of quick combinations to the head and body of Johnson.
The man known as the ‘Blue Machine’ continued paddling forward and kept Johnson at bay with his quick and equally accurate hands, which saw him dropping the 32-year old Johnson but the American managed to recover quick in time to beat the countdown.
But Indongo was not done with the American and was soon back in the thick of things further crushing Johnson with a devastating combination to stop the American 1:12 minutes of the second round for a technical knockout victory.
Saturday’s win was the first for Indongo since his back-to-back stoppage defeats at the hands of Terence Crawford in 2017 and Ragis Prograis last year, and was well received by the boxing world, with many pundits expressing their hope that the win over Johnson could mark the turning point in Indongo’s illustrious
career.