Desert Storm rules the roost

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WINDHOEK – There seems no stopping local professional boxers when it comes down to trading leather in the boxing ring as evidenced by the explosive showing of upcoming featherweight prospect Lukas Sakaria.

The Namibian stretched his unbeaten run to 11 out of the same number of bouts when he ran the rule over his opponent Thembani Hobyani from South Africa in an adrenaline pumping international featherweight non-title bout over 10 rounds under the stable of the MTC Nestor Tobias Boxing and Fitness Academy at the Windhoek Country Club on Friday evening.

Sakaria certainly lived up to his top billing as he controlled the fight right from the start peppering the South African with a good combination of well planted jabs and uppercuts but the hard as nails Hobyani refused to yield under the barrage of punches and somehow managed to weather the storm as he stayed put for the duration of the grueling bout.

The unbeaten Namibian known as ‘Desert Storm’ in boxing circles now boasts a remarkable record of 11 wins with 7 of those bouts failing to go the full distance.

In the main under card bout, regular Zimbabwean visitor Tawanda Chigwida once again failed for the umpteenth time to record a win on Namibian soil in five attempts, suffering defeat at the quick hands of Samuel “The Hammer” Kapapu with a unanimous points loss after 8 rounds in another non-title featherweight bout.

Immanuel Andreki defeated Lukas Handivele hands down with a technical knockout (TKO) after just 1 minute and 6 seconds in the 5th of their 6-round junior lightweight non-title bout. The night produced two further TKOs in both the junior lightweight and middleweight divisions  –  courtesy of Jeremiah Nakathila (3rd round) against David Shinuna and Walter Kundokokwa (4th round) vs Thomas Shangula, respectively.

Ongwediva based junior welterweight boxer Immanuel Mungandjela kept his unbeaten run intact after three bouts in the paid ranks when he narrowly scraped to a split decision win against Kennedy Kamati who was making his professional debut. Nathaniel Kamati defeated Matheus Johannes after he got the nod from all three judges to claim victory after six rounds of blood sweat and tears.

By Carlos Kambaekwa