WINDHOEK – As he earlier promised, Immanuel ‘Prince’ Naidjala reclaimed the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Africa bantamweight title after delivering one of his greatest performances to dismantle Tanzanian opponent Juma Fundi via a 5th round technical knockout (TKO), at the Windhoek Country Club on Saturday night.
Naidjala was fighting more aggressively than usual and with his strength and accuracy was able to keep Fundi at bay, closing in with some strong jabs and body hooks that made the Tanzanian look every bit his 27 years.
Fundi tried his best, but couldn’t match the speed and strength of the young Namibian boxing prospect, who grew more comfortable with each passing round. Fundi’s 3rd round flourish was his last hurrah as Naidjala came out in the 4th landing some decent body shots and almost had an answer for everything the Tanzanian tried to do.
Evidently, Naidjala was just too smart for his opponent as he continued to land clean head and body hooks, which made it very difficult for Fundi to get his groove going. Towards the end of the 4th round, Fundi tried by all means to salvage something from the contest but it was still an uneven transaction, as the Namibian kept picking his spots with aching accuracy.
The out-of-sorts Tanzanian trundled on into the 5th, which was his last after Naidjala dropped Fundi with a strong left hook to the head but the Tanzanian managed to beat the count and was back on his feet. Naidjala was again back in the thick of things, this time dropping him twice with an assortment of strong head and body shots. The Tanzanian tried by all means to beat the count but this time around failed to remedy Naidjala’s merciless punches.
By Otniel Hembapu