…puts up blistery performance
WINDHOEK – Newly crowned champion Anthony Jaarman put up one of his greatest performances to outmanoeuvre the hard-punching Pohamba ‘Mr President’ Mandume, and went on to capture the national Welterweight crown in a spellbinding encounter at the Windhoek Country Club Resort and Casino on Saturday.
Fighting in the main bout of the evening, Jaarman started off aggressively and with his accuracy was able to land strong jabs and good combinations and move out of harm’s way with ease, before the bulky Mandume could get a decent chance to connect any of his strong punches. The lanky Jaarman was just too smart for his opponent, as he continued to land clean head and body hooks, which were complemented by his swift backtracking style of fight that made it very difficult for Mandume to get his mojo going. Mandume tried by all means to salvage something from the contest as he closed in with a few strong body shots that had Jaarman backtracking from the toe-to-toe confrontation at times, but it was still an uneven transaction, since Jaarman was still picking his spots with painful accuracy.
By the 7th round the seemingly punch-drunk Mandume could hardly land any decent blow and many a time appeared merely a frustrated dancing partner at risk of opening himself up to even more punishment. In the 8th and 9th, with Jaarman still bobbing and swaying with ease from his solid base, Mandume’s performance was yet to convince the paying customers despite meeting occasional minor successes along the way. Mandume trundled on into the 11th round and if his only chance was to land a ‘Sunday punch’ it was clear that that would have had to wait for another day. With the job all but done, Jaarman slid and ran but Mandume kept lunging with frustration etched on his face. Mandume’s head dropped as he made it back to his corner at the final bell, while Jaarman’s grin told a familiar story and that was victory for the youthful boxing prospect.
In undercard results, Kennedy Kamati defeated Verde Ndayambekwa on points over 6-rounds, while Paulus Petrus also trounced Likas Mukete on points with Gabriel Imalwa also scoring a points victory over Uukelo Christian. All fights were in the lightweight division over 6-rounds. In three consecutive featherweight bouts, Eric Kalenga defeated Mathew Kaandala on points, while Sebby Sheuyange made short work of his opponent Johannes Ishono via a 1st round knockout after just 1-minute and 27-seconds of action. In the last featherweight bout, George Iita also scored a points victory against Peter Philipus, while Celestinus Haingura defeated Nangunda Dorian on points in the only bantamweight bout of the evening.
By Otniel Hembapu