Windhoek
Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda may have lost his IBO Super Bantamweight world title to Mexican opponent Moises ‘Chucky’ Flores during their WBA/IBO unification fight on Saturday – but in all honesty, Ambunda stole the hearts of many as he delivered more than just a fight; it was a masterpiece that captured the imagination not just of the home crowd but of the entire world.
Fighting at a fully-packed Ramatex Hall in the capital on Saturday evening, Ambunda locked horns with Flores in a WBA/IBO unification super fight, with the Mexican going into the fight as the World Boxing Association (WBA) Interim world champion and the Namibian as the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) world champion.
A highly tactical Flores outpointed a courageous Ambunda to capture the IBO world title and in the process retain his WBA world crown, after the three judges scored the bout 114-111, 115-112 and 115-110 in favour of the Mexican.
Despite the unfortunate outcome, Ambunda fought his heart out and by Namibia’s own boxing standards the bout will not necessarily go down in world history as one of those fights labeled “fight of the century” but it will definitely go down in Namibian boxing history as “The Fight!”.
Ambunda was always going to have difficulties with Flores’ height and reach as the towering Mexican perfectly put his height and reach to good use right from the onset, which saw Ambunda going down towards the end of the opening round but however recovering to see the second round.
Ambunda came out guns blazing in the second and thirds round, pushing back the Mexican with some solid jabs that were complemented by a strong right hand. But besides the great onslaught at times, Ambunda constantly struggled to launch into full assault mode as Flores controlled range, distance and the centre of the ring and would also cling on when he needed to slow Ambunda down.
Beside the hustles in finding his target, the plucky Namibian kept paddling forward and found some success in the 4th and 5th rounds, closing in with some solid jabs, but his overall accuracy was many a time off point as Flores’ height and reach made it almost impossible for him to hit home.
The well-calculated Mexican had seen enough and came out strong to dominate rounds six to seven, collecting points with an avalanche of great head and body shots, while easily setting up Ambunda with a clean strong jab that many a time left the Namibian with serious difficulties in picking his spot.
Ambunda also went down twice in rounds 6 and 7 but his corner claimed he was not knocked down but only slipped on both occasions, with which the fight supervisors agreed as they ordered the ring to be dried before the fight commenced.
Flores continued his dominance in the 8th and 9th rounds, utilising his jab to perfection and moving smartly as he landed clean head and body shots, but a determined Ambunda was not to be outdone as he kept coming forward, harassing Flores with powerful left shots that forced the Mexican to partly lose his footing at times.
Motivated by his exploits in the preceding rounds, Ambunda continued swinging in the 10th and 11th rounds, forcing Flores to slow down with an assortment of uppercuts, head and body shots but that much-needed knockout punch was never to be as Flores clung on to dear life to make it to the last round.
The final round didn’t really produce much action as Flores started playing the cat-and-mouse game of hitting, ducking and holding on to frustrate Ambunda and subsequently claim the win.
Meanwhile, in the first supporting bout Sacky ‘Izinyoka’ Shikukutu retained his WBO Africa Interim Welterweight title against South Africa’s Jason Bedeman with a unanimous decision, while Sakaria ‘Desert Storm’ Lukas dispatched Tanzania’s Mohamed Matumla via a 4th round knockout to capture the WBO Africa Interim Featherweight title.
The WBO Africa Interim Lightweight title fight between Paulus ‘Hitman’ Moses and South Africa’s Thompson Mokwane was declared a ‘no contest’ at the end of the first round following an accidental headbutt that left the South African with a cut on his head.
The much-anticipated WBO Bantamweight Intercontinental title fight between Imms ‘Prince’ Naidjala and South Africa’s Klaas Mboyane was cancelled after the South African reportedly failed a medical test.