By Otniel Hembapu
WINDHOEK – Namibia’s World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Africa Bantamweight champion, Immanuel ‘Prince’ Naidjala, as promised earlier, succeeded in making his opponent Joseph ‘Smokey Joe’ Hilongwa look like a vulnerable beginner in the business of trading leather.
Defending his African Bantamweight crown against Hilongwa in the main bout of the ‘No Mercy Part-3 Boxing Bonanza’ at the fully packed Windhoek Country Club on Saturday, Naidjala delivered a blistering performance that saw him easily dispatch Hilongwa on points to successfully retain his crown.
Naidjala started off aggressively right from the opening round, depositing some accurate head and body hooks coupled with strong uppercuts, that had the somewhat unconvincing Hilongwa running for cover most of the time.
In the subsequent rounds, particularly from round 4 to 7, Naidjala was too smart, sharp, efficient and sometimes very brutal in dismantling Hilongwa with his fast and furious combination of punches, making the dreadlocked Hilongwa look just like he said he would – like any other opponent.
Despite Hilongwa at times displaying some good defensive tactics in shielding himself from Naidjala’s strong blows, Naidjala continued landing good combinations, which were complemented by his mean right hand. Naidjala’s quick backtracking style of fight and unexpected attacks, seemingly confused Hilongwa and by the time the fight entered the last quarter, Hilongwa seemed to have lost his spirit as the more effective Naidjala continued to unleash clean head and body hooks, doubling the action with lethal jabs.
In another heated, but short-lived bout, Julius ‘Blue Machine’ Indongo made easy work of his WBO Africa Junior Welterweight title defence against the below-par Takudzwa Kuchocha when he easily thumped the Zimbabwean through a 3rd round Technical Knockout. Meanwhile, it’s back to the drawing board for Martin Haikali, who lost his WBO Africa Lightweight title to Samuel Kapapu.
In other action, Amberk Shidjuu survived a huge scare from Jafet Utoni before putting up a great comeback performance to successfully retain his WBO Africa flyweight title. Sakaria ‘Desert Storm’ Lukas also recorded a victory when he trounced Tommy ‘Showman’ Nakashimba through a 7th round Technical Knockout.
Simon Shafodino defeated Steven Shimbonde to win the Welterweight fight via a 2nd round knockout, while Nathaneal Kamati proved too strong for Noah Ntai whom he dispatched in the 4th round to win their Bantamweight fight. In just 1:37 seconds into the opening round, Jeremia Nakathila won the Junior Lightweight division, Jeremia Nakathila by knocking Richard Muriri out.
Kennedy Kamati rumbled his way past Erick Kalenga during their Lightweight fight over 4 rounds of heated action, while Nathaneal Kakololo defeated Domicus Weulu on points to win the Junior Lightweight fight.