Otniel Hembapu

WINDHOEK – It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for local boxing, after Namibia’s veteran boxer and former two-time world champion Paulus “The Rock” Ambunda was out-brawled and outfoxed by America’s fast and furious fighter Stephen Fulton Jr in the wee hours of yesterday.
The 38-year old Ambunda late Saturday squared off against Fulton Jr in an action-packed fight that stretched out into the wee hours of yesterday – with the Namibian veteran fighter defending his IBO world super bantamweight title for the first time at the Eaglebank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, US.
But it was not to be for the aging Namibian former double world champion, as clearly speedy Fulton Jr was just too fast and too smart for Ambunda, who struggled to match the quickness and accuracy of the 28-year old American – who is 14 years Ambunda’s junior.
For the lion’s share of their world title fight, Fulton Jr dominated with quick jabs and right hooks while his overall footwork and accuracy proved a bit too much for Ambunda to handle, as the experienced Namibian unusually struggled to connect his punches and his overall application to the fight was also off mark.
Fulton Jr employed a stiff left jab and used superior speed, length and an eighth-round knockdown to defeat Ambunda en route to a 12-round unanimous decision victory, which saw the American winning the coveted IBO world super bantamweight title and his first world title. 
All three judges scored the fight 120-107 in favour of the American. Fulton remains undefeated at 16-0, seven KO’s while Ambunda’s record drops to 27-3, 11 KO’s.

 Kautondokwa bounces back with 2nd Round TKO win
On a high note for Namibian boxing, Walter “The Executioner” Kautondokwa made a big statement with his comeback fight by stopping Simeon Tcheta from Tanzania in the beginning of the 2nd round. Kautondokwa returned to the ring for the first time after losing to Demetrius Andrade for the vacant WBO world title. The middleweight bout with Tcheta was scheduled for 10 rounds in Harare, Zimbabwe. 
Kautondokwa started the fight with strong combinations to the body, leaving Tcheta hurt at the end of the first round. At the beginning of the 2nd round, Kautondokwa continued with strong punches and the corner threw in the towel one minute into round 2 to avoid further punishment and prevent injury to their man. 
Kautondokwa had two fights scheduled that were both cancelled at the last minute. The first fight was cancelled vs South Africa’s Ramabolu when he withdrew, which some claim was due to getting cold feet. Then his next fight was scheduled vs Jacob Maganga from Tanzania and again the fight was cancelled, because Maganga failed a medical test.
Kautondokwa’s trainer Nestor Tobias believes that Kautondokwa is back for good.  “The loss against Andrade was unfortunate. We took that fight on very short notice but that is water under the bridge. All that matters is that Kautondokwa is back now and ready to challenge top contenders in the middleweight division, so they better be ready. We expect him back in the WBO top 15 ratings and then we will be back to business.”  
Kautondokwa now boasts a record of 19 fights, 18 wins and only 1 loss and remains a dangerous knockout specialist with 17 of his 19 fights coming inside the distance. – Additional reporting: www.boxingscene.com